German intelligence

A Turkish deputy who recently hit the headlines with her shoe-equipped protest in Turkey's male-dominated Parliament has joined the global trend of the “ice bucket challenge” by sending German Chancellor Angela Merkel a tongue-in-cheek message.

German magazine Der Spiegel reported last week that the German intelligence agency has been spying on Turkey since 2009.

Turkey was the only NATO member that the German foreign intelligence agency (BND) spied on and the scope of the program covers the whole country, sources in the German intelligence community have told daily Hürriyet.

German Ambassador to Ankara Eberhard Pohl was summoned to the Turkish Foreign Ministry on Aug. 18 following media reports claiming German secret services have been eavesdropping on Turkey for some time. The Turkish Foreign Ministry asked for an explanation from the ambassador and said in a public statement that it would be “grave” if even only part of the media reports were true.

Any accuracy in reports that Germany has been spying on NATO ally Turkey are “worrying” and would pose “a grave situation” to the relationship between the two nations, the Foreign Ministry said in a strongly-worded statement released Aug. 18.

Germany's intelligence agency eavesdropped on calls made by U.S. Secretary Hillary Clinton, as the German intelligence also targeted Turkey, Der Spiegel reports.

In spite the sanctions, Russia's President Vladimir Putin continues expanding his sphere of influence, concludes an analysis of the German intelligence, published in German media.

According to Suddeutsche Zeitung, quoted by Deutsche Welle, the foreign policy committee in the Bundestag discussed Bulgaria and the Russian interests in the beginning of July. 

German authorities said Wednesday they were investigating an alleged foreign spy as reports said the suspect was the second within days believed to be working for US intelligence.
      

The original article is from German magazine Der Spiegel's website

Berlin is concerned over a growing influence of Russia on the government in Bulgaria, Germany's Der Spiegel has argued in an article.