Germany Refuses Turkey’s Request to Spy on Opponents of Erdogan<br />The news agency Reuters reported from Stockholm that the public broadcaster SR said<br />that Mr. Erdogan’s government was putting unspecified pressure on Swedish Gulen supporters — through the Union of Turkish European Democrats, a lobbying group that German intelligence said had ties to Mr. Erdogan’s party — to inform on colleagues.<br />In fact, rather than pursuing the request, German authorities have warned some Turks living in Germany<br />that they may face difficulties in Turkey after being identified by the Turkish government as Gulen supporters.<br />But the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported<br />that Turkey’s justice minister, Bekir Bozdag, said a week ago that Mr. Kahl, the foreign intelligence chief, had made "a mockery of Turkish people’s intelligence" by rejecting Turkey’s evidence on Gulen supporters.<br />Norbert Lammert, president of the Bundestag, or lower house of Parliament, said in a speech on Monday<br />that the Turkish referendum scheduled for April 16 aimed at "transforming an undoubtedly fragile but democratic system into an authoritarian system — and this second coup attempt may well be successful." A report on Swedish radio suggested that Turkey’s efforts to press its European allies over Gulen supporters reached well beyond Germany.<br />By ALISON SMALEMARCH 28, 2017<br />BERLIN — German officials acknowledged on Tuesday that they had rebuffed a request by the Turkish government to spy on its opponents in Germany,<br />the latest strain to relations as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey pursues a referendum next month to expand his powers.<br />Tensions between Turkey and a range of European countries have mounted in recent weeks as the Turkish government, in effect, seeks to broaden the scope<br />of its activities among Turks living in Europe, who can also cast votes in the referendum, which Mr. Erdogan is by no means assured of winning.
