The Turkish spy agency has developed a smartphone application to allow pro-government Turks living in Germany to inform their compatriots who oppose the Justice and Development Party (AKP). The existence of the telephone application was revealed in the annual report of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV), Germany's leading counter-intelligence agency. The report covers foreign terrorist and intelligence activities that took place in 2018 in Baden-Württemberg, a state in southwestern Germany that borders Switzerland and France. Deutsche Welle, Germany's state broadcaster, which cited the BfV report, said 2018 saw a significant increase in intelligence activities by several countries, including China, Russia, Iran and Turkey. Much of the intelligence activity of Turkish spy agencies has focused on the Turkish expat community in Baden-Württemberg. The federal state is home to about 15% of the German Turkish population, about 3 million people.
According to the BfV report, Turkish intelligence operations in Baden-Württemberg have mainly focused on two groups since 2015. One group is made up of supporters of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an armed separatist group that fights for the independence of the Turkish Kurdish population. A ceasefire between the PKK and the Turkish government ended in 2015, leading to the outbreak of a low-intensity war in the southeastern regions of Turkey, which is still ongoing. The other group is made up of sympathizers of Fethullah Gülen, a Turkish Islamic scholar who is seen by the Turkish government as the main instigator of a coup that tried in vain to oust the AKP in July 2016.
The BfV report also claims that pro-government Turks living in Germany are known to use a smart phone application developed by the Turkish police, the General Directorate of Security (EGM). The app allegedly allows AKP supporters to inform alleged PKK members or followers of Gülen living in Germany. These individuals are then interrogated or even arrested when they travel to Turkey to visit family and friends.
The report also mentions several Turkish pro-AKP organizations allegedly operating as intelligence analysts for a number of Turkish spy agencies. Among them are civic groups such as the Union of International Democrats or religious organizations such as the Turkish-Islamic Union for Religious Affairs. Known as DİTİB, the organization administers the activities of several hundred Turkish Muslim organizations and mosques across Germany and is believed to be closely associated with the AKP and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. Several German intelligence officials and reports have claimed in recent years that DİTİB operates as the intelligence-gathering arm of the Turkish state in Germany.