Erdogan government: Gülen himself behind espionagelaster

The Gülen movement itself lies behind allegations of spying by the Turkish mosque dome in Europe.

This newspaper revealed Wednesday that President Yusuf Acar of the Dutch branch of Diyanet mosque dome information had been passed on to Ankara. He sent a list of alleged Dutch sympathizers of the Gülen movement. In Germany and Belgium fuss about coming to the motherland from the European mosques.

' It is extremely worrisome that our religious officials are slandered with such dirty defamation resulting in a smear campaign '', said in a statement. ' That these stories are widespread after the attempted coup of July 15 is part of an anti-Turkish campaign by the terror of Fethullah Gulen. ''

Koenders called the Turkish ambassador this week to account. President Acar also works at the embassy as a religious adviser. CDA party leader Buma demands that Acar is put out of the country. In Acars report to the CDA Ankara is described as a bulwark infected by Gülen.

Ankara sees Fethullah Gulen, the evil genius behind the coup and has opened a witch hunt in his own country on suspected supporters. In Turkey since the coup, more than 125 000 people sacked or detained, including soldiers, judges, journalists and scientists.