Erdogan spies on critics in Athens, Turkish intelligence operating in Greek migrant camps

Mahmoud Al-Batakoshi

Secret documents have revealed that the Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has infiltrated refugee camps in Greece to spy on critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and his government.

A report by Nordic Monitor has said the document was sealed electronically on June 29, 2019 when it was notified as an internal document to other branches of government through the Electronic Information Management System (Elektronik Bilgi Yönetim Sistemi).

Data compiled from various government agencies have said the intelligence was collected on members of the Gülen group, critics of Erdoğan, who were forced to flee to Greece to escape an unprecedented crackdown in neighboring Turkey.

The document reveals the monitoring by Turkey on refugees and illegal immigrants in Greece, in order to identify the names and alleged plans of those abroad who are being persecuted by the Erdoğan regime.

The newsletter states that “As a result of the intelligence work, it was identified as one of the Gülenists who remained in a refugee center in Greece,” stressing that some members and sympathisers of the Gülen movement had crossed into Greece illegally.

Some of them remained in Greece, submitting asylum applications, while others have moved to other European countries, mainly Germany.

The classified information was also revealed in a criminal investigation supervised by Ankara Prosecutor Adem Akıncı, regarding a number of Gülenists living abroad.

Among them was Turkish journalist Hasan Cücük, who lives in Denmark and faced a credible death threat that prompted the Danish Security and Intelligence Service to take him to a safe place in 2017 until the threat is eliminated.

“Although MIT’s clandestine activities in Greece are widely known, the document is a rare piece of evidence that confirms such operations on foreign soil,” the Nordic Monitor said.

Ankara prosecutor Adem Akinci oversaw a criminal investigation into several Gulenists living abroad, among them a Turkish journalist living in Denmark who had to be moved into a safe place by Danish intelligence in 2017 following credible death threats.

Bilim is described as a teacher who worked for one of Gülen’s schools in Turkey, with a warrant issued by the 2nd Konya Criminal Court. The profile of Cemal Bilim’s wife is described in the same information note.

Turkish intelligence services already working to gather information using groups of Muslim minorities in Greece have stepped up their activities in Greece. The secret document shows that Turkey is monitoring its critics, even if they manage to cross into Greece and seek asylum under international human rights conventions, according to the report.