Ankara has upped tensions with Paris and arrested four Turkish nationals, one of whom had previously worked in the French consulate in Istanbul, on charges of "forming a spy cell for France".
According to the pro-government Sabah daily, Metin Ozdemir, a former employee of the French consulate’s security service told police he had gathered intelligence for the French intelligence service, the DGSE.
The report says the suspects used fake ID cards purportedly belonging to agents of Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and claimed that they were collecting information on ISIS and similar terrorist groups.
In 2013, Özdemir met a person codenamed Bruno, who had close ties with the French intelligence service, the General Directorate for External Security. Bruno reportedly told Özdemir he could help him pursue his goal of becoming a legionnaire but Özdemir would have to collect some information first.
According to his own testimony, Özdemir gathered information on 120 people – including imams – and conveyed it to French authorities.
Later on, he contacted two more people with ties to French intelligence and started receiving orders from those two “case officers.”
Identifying the officers as Virginia and Sebastian, Özdemir said that he did not know what their surnames were, they communicated over payphones and he was well aware that he was conducting espionage.
According to his testimony, Özdemir was ordered to spy on conservative-leaning foundations in Istanbul’s Fatih, Bayrampaşa, Esenyurt, Zeytinburnu, Üsküdar, Ümraniye and Başakşehir districts, and was also threatened by the French when he tried to quit.
He threatened them back, saying he would leave France in a difficult position if he were to confess.
Correspondence between Özdemir and his handlers sheds light on the exchange of threats. In one email, an unnamed superior of Virginia told Özdemir that they risked themselves to protect him and reminded him how well they paid him.
The news came as tensions between Turkey and France have increased over their different positions on Libya and a recent incident between their naval warships in the Mediterranean.
