Turkish imams spied on teachers at German state schools

Imams in Germany have informed Turkish authorities of alleged supporters of cleric Fethullah Gulen, the exiled cleric President Erdogan blames as the leader behind the thwarted coup. That move raised protests from Germany’s domestic intelligence service and the demand for answers on the alleged activities. -Vasilis Chronopoulos

A state intelligence body has discovered that imams at one of Germany’s largest Islamic organizations have gathered intelligence at the behest of Turkey’s official religious authorities, the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” newspaper reported Tuesday.

The Office for the Protection of the Constitution in North Rhine-Westphalia found that imams at the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) submitted the names of alleged supporters of exiled Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen to Turkish consulates in Cologne, Düsseldorf and Munich.

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