Turkish deputy PM slams Germany's espionage claims

By Ali Kemal Akan

ISTANBUL (AA) - No member of Turkish Religious Affairs, also known as Diyanet, and the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs (DITIB) is a spy and their duty is not to spy on people, Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmus said on Saturday.

In his speech at the Economic Research Foundation's conference at a hotel in Istanbul, Kurtulmus said the duty of members of such bodies was to protect Turkish people from heretic practices of Daesh terror group and others.

DITIB clerics were recently accused of spying on Turkish nationals in Germany.

"Searching the houses of these people who are doing religious services which is also for the benefit of German society and taking steps against them by calling them 'criminals' will make Germany ashamed in the end," Kurtulmus said.

Diyanet members and DITIB's religious staff were guarantors of Muslim minority's peaceful coexistence with German society, he said, adding the search operation against them was unfair.

"This will not contribute to the development of Turkish-German relations. This will not contribute to the elections in Germany, either.

“They should not do wrong practices. This will only benefit fascists and neo-fascists. It will cause the extreme right movements to rise in Europe, mainly in Germany, Netherlands and France, and make Europe an impossible place to live," Kurtulmus added.