There were angry exchanges between Austrian and Turkish officials on Tuesday, after the Austrian government announced it would press charges against an individual allegedly caught spying for Turkish intelligence.
The charges were
announced
on Tuesday morning local time by Austria’s Interior Minister Karl
Nehammer (pictured), during a press conference in the Austrian capital
Vienna.
During the press conference, Nehammer
said the Austrian government wished to send “a clear message to the
Turkish Republic: Turkish espionage and interference by Turkey in the
civil liberties [of Austrian citizens] have no place in Austria”.
Additionally, the Austrian official said his government would “work at
the European level to make sure that Turkey does not interfere in the
internal affairs of European Union states”. Vienna had already notified
Horst Seehofer, president of the European Council, of the espionage
case, said Nehammer.
It is believed that the alleged Turkish
spy was uncovered by Austrian authorities after a large political
protest that took place in Vienna last June, which resulted in violent clashes
between pro-Kurdish and pro-Turkish demonstrators. The protesters were
members of pro-Kurdish organizations in Vienna, but were confronted by
pro-Turkish demonstrators, which resulted in the whole rally descending
into violent street clashes. An investigation by Austrian police
determined that many of the pro-Turkish demonstrators were affiliated
with a far-right Turkish group known as the Grey Wolves.
According to the Austrian Interior
Ministry, however, it was also found that Turkey’s National Intelligence
Organization, known as MİT, helped organize the Grey Wolves group that
confronted the pro-Kurdish rally. Among the Grey Wolves rioters, say
Austrian officials, was a man who had been “recruited” by the MİT to spy
on pro-Kurdish activists or critics of Turkish President Recep Tayyip
Erdoğan. Nehammer said the alleged spy already confessed to working for
Turkish intelligence.
In response to Nehammer’s statements, the
Turkish government accused Austria’s national leadership of harboring
an “anti-Turkey obsession”. Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Hami
Aksoy told
reporters in Ankara that the Austrian government should “top chasing
artificial agenda with shallow and domestic political calculations over
Turkey, and act with […] seriousness, common sense, and sincere
cooperation”.
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