Turkey has issued a warrant for the arrest of a former CIA officer, state media report. Officials accuse Graham Fuller, once a high-ranking US foreign intelligence agent, of having links to last year's failed coup.
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Turkey has issued a warrant for the arrest of Graham Fuller, a former high-ranking official with the US's Central Intelligence Agency, accusing him of links to the group blamed for the unsuccessful effort to take down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on July 15, 2016. The warrant accuses Fuller of "violating the constitution," "attempting to overthrow the Turkish government or stop it from doing its duty," and gathering intelligence for "political or military espionage," according to the official news agency Anadolu.
Government officials now believe that they have the evidence necessary to confirm Fuller's whereabouts before and after the putsch, the daily newspaper Hurriyet reports. They believe that Fuller left Turkey after the coup.
Prosecutors have also issued an arrest warrant for the US-based Turkey scholar Henri Barkey on coup-related charges, media report. The prosecutor's office in Istanbul declined to comment on the matter. And news agencies could not reach Fuller or Barkey immediately for comment.
Turkey: Defending human rights
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Wide-reaching crackdown
The accusations link Fuller and Barkey to the US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen. President Erdogan says the preacher and his supporters — called the Fethullah Terrorist Organization by the government — staged the coup, in which soldiers turned their tanks and helicopters on the state. By the end of the long night of fighting, 250 lay people dead.
US officials say Turkey has provided insufficient evidence to extradite Gulen. A former ally of Erdogan's, Gulen has condemned the coup and denies any involvement.
In 2006, Fuller wrote a letter supporting the cleric's green card application, later saying he had done so as a private citizen because he "did not believe that Gulen constituted a security threat to the US." Turkish officials say that support has proved instrumental to Gulen's remaining out of their reach.
In the long and expanding crackdown that has followed the coup, Erdogan's government has banned books; shuttered businesses, media outlets and schools linked to Gulen; fired or suspended more than 200,000 public employees; and imprisoned 50,000 people — including soldiers, journalists, academics, judges, two Turkish workers for US diplomatic missions and an American pastor. Earlier this week, officials issued warrants for the arrest of 360 more members of the military. Rights groups and some international leaders accuse Erdogan of cracking down on general dissent, but his government has called the purge necessary because of the gravity of the security threats that it faces.
The European Court of Human Rights is scheduled to hear the case of a German journalist with dual citizenship who has sat in prison in Turkey since February. A German rights advocate was released on bail in October after over three months of incarceration. Hundreds of Turkish officials have sought asylum in Germany in the year and four months since the crackdown began.
Why are German and Turkish relations so strained?
German-Turkish relations have deteriorated since the failed coup against Turkish President Erdogan in 2016 and the crackdown that followed. DW looks at some of the key moments that soured ties between Berlin and Ankara.
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The Böhmermann affair
March 31, 2016: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan filed charges against German comedian and satirist Jan Böhmermann over his "defamatory poem" about the Turkish leader. German prosecutors eventually dropped the charges on October 4, 2016, but the case sparked a diplomatic row between Berlin and Ankara.
German lawmakers pass resolution to recognize 1915 Armenian Genocide
June 2, 2016: The resolution passed almost unanimously. In response, Turkey recalled its ambassador in Berlin and Germany's Turkish community held protests in several German cities. Turkey had repeatedly criticized the use of the term genocide to describe the Ottoman-era Armenian killings, arguing that the number of deaths had been inflated, and that Turkish Muslims also perished in the violence.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/S. Gallup
Tensions following failed coup in Turkey
July 15, 2016: A faction of the Turkish military tried to overthrow President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, but ultimately failed. Ankara accused Berlin of not taking a clear stand against the coup attempt or not doing anything about exiled preacher Fethullah Gulen's organization, who Erdogan blames for orchestrating the failed coup.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Suna
Germany criticizes post-coup purge
Immediately following the attempted coup, Turkish authorities purged the army and judiciary, detaining thousands of people. The purge expanded to include civil servants, university officials and teachers. German politicians criticize the detentions. Turkish diplomats, academics and military members fled the country and applied for asylum in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Suna
Kurdish rallies in Cologne
Erdogan's post-coup crackdown has also been condemned by Kurdish protesters at several mass demonstrations in the west German city of Cologne. Often the rallies have called for the release of Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed leader of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey considers to be a terror group. Ankara has accused Berlin of not doing enough to stop PKK activities.
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Arrest of German citizens in Turkey
February 14, 2017: Deniz Yücel, a correspondent for the "Welt" newspaper, was taken into custody in Turkey. Other German nationals, including journalist Mesale Tolu and human rights activist Peter Steudtner were detained in Turkey for what Berlin dubbed "political reasons." Turkey accused them of supporting terrorist organizations. All three have since been released pending trial.
March 2017: A number of German localities blocked Turkish ministers from holding rallies in their districts ahead of an April referendum in Turkey to enhance President Erdogan's powers. The Turkish leader then accused Germany of using "Nazi tactics" against Turkish citizens in Germany and visiting Turkish lawmakers. German leaders were not amused by the jibe, saying Erdogan had gone too far.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Spying allegations
March 30, 2017: Germany accused Turkey of spying on hundreds of suspected Gulen supporters as well as over 200 associations and schools linked to the Gulen movement in Germany. Turkish asylum-seekers have since accused officials working in Germany's immigration authority (BAMF) of passing on their information to media outlets with ties to the Turkish government.
Image: Imago/Chromeorange/M. Schroeder
Erdogan urges German-Turks not to vote for 'enemies of Turkey'
August 18, 2017: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan slammed three of Germany's main political parties as "enemies of Turkey" and told Turks living in Germany not to vote for them in September's general election. He singled out Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU), the Social Democrats (SPD), and the Greens. Merkel said Erdogan was "meddling" in Germany's election.
Image: picture-alliance/abaca/AA/M. Ali Ozcan
Merkel says Turkey should not become EU member
September 4, 2017: German Chancellor Angela Merkel said during an election debate that she didn't think Turkey should become a member of the European Union and said she would speak with other EU leaders about ending Ankara's accession talks. In October, she backed a move to cut Turkey's pre-accession EU funds.
Image: Reuters/F. Bensch
Turkey's military offensive in Afrin
January 20, 2018: The Turkish military and their Syrian rebel allies launched "Operation Olive Branch" against the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in northern Syria. The move was criticized by German politicians and prompted large protests by Kurdish communities in Germany.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/O. Kose
Journalist Deniz Yücel released from prison
February 16, 2018: Turkey ordered the release of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yücel after he'd been held for over a year without charge. According to Turkish state media, Yücel was released on bail from pre-trial detention. Prosecutors asked for an 18-year jail sentence for Yücel on charges of "terror propaganda" and incitement.
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Özil quits
July 2018: German footballer Mesut Özil quit the national team following the fallout from his meeting with the Turkish president. Özil said he was being made a scapegoat for Germany's forgettable performance at the FIFA World Cup in Moscow because of his Turkish heritage. Erdogan praised Özil's decision and slammed the "racist" mistreatment of the footballer.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/Presidential Press Service
Travel ban lifted
August 2018: A Turkish court removed the travel ban on German journalist Mesale Tolu, who was arrested last year on terrorism-related charges. But the trial against Tolu, who has since returned to Germany, is set to continue. Her husband, Suat Corlu, who is facing similar charges, has been ordered to remain in Turkey.
