In early July this year, a spy trying to sell state documents to the Russians was caught during an operation conducted by German police. The documents had also been sold to the CIA before. This incident might have been laid aside as a belated Cold War story, but it did not happen since it was revealed that the German intelligence agency BND wiretapped some American politicians and one "friendly nation." Then, it turned out that this friendly nation was Turkey.
The announcements were both as expected and made one smile. Evidently, the main reason is the ambiguity of the policies implemented by the Erdoğan government, which shows an unbounded character according to them. Aside from wiretapping some politicians and bureaucrats of Turkey, the BND also probably used other communication tools such as the Internet. Former BND chief Wieck stated that such authority could only be granted by the German government, while intelligence experts underlined that such an operation could only be conducted by using some intermediaries in Turkey.
As a matter of fact, it is not surprising that everyone wiretaps the others. But this incident is crucial for Turkey in terms of politics since the general opinion suggests that Germany is uncomfortable with the resolution of the Kurdish issue and the close relationship between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan. Also, it is highly possible that the intelligence means of the Gülen Movement could have been used as intermediaries. An ideological tie also exists in that possibility since it is known that the Gülen Movement is also against the reconciliation process.
More importantly, the incidents did not grab the attention of public, and no one seemed surprised by the facts. Germany's inappropriate behavior towards Turkey neither surprised nor attracted attention because this spying activity broke out after a series of incidents extending over recent years. In these years, the number of EU supporters in Turkey has diminished dramatically. Europe assumed that this is because Turkish society adopted the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) governments' intent to move away from the EU.
But one should note the reverse direction in order to grasp the real cause of that. One of the primary targets of the AK Party government is still EU membership. However, the decisiveness of Merkel-like politics hinders this process and this blockage is closely observed by Turkish society. You could also add to this picture the fact that racist parties are on the rise in Europe in recent years. While the most criticized aspect is the independence of the judicial system, opening the 23rd section, which is relevant to judicial independence, is still being prevented. The EU Commission is not away from this excluding view. As one sees the statements of the current Commission president, one could have the impression that assuming the people as being stupid really prevails in the EU bureaucracy.
All these incidents give Turkey only one message: We do not want you. Maybe some think that Turkey might recover in the face of this exclusion and unconditionally behave in accordance with Western doctrines. Meanwhile, we have been observing since the Gezi incidents how pleased the Western world, especially Germany, would be if Erdoğan were thrown out. The EU and Europe is incapable of understanding what is really going on in Turkey. So, they are also incapable of seeing what their attitude would mean in Turkey.
The West is losing Turkey step by step. And the interesting point is that the majority of the Turkish public does not regard it as a problem anymore since the West is not behaving sincerely or honestly. From Brandt to Merkel, Europe is in a period of a major decline. The activities of German intelligence are only ordinary incidents consolidating the negative perception in this picture.
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