Germany has been wiretapping Turkey since 1976: Focus

The German intelligence agency (BND) has wiretapped NATO member Turkey since 1976, according to German weekly Focus magazine.

The magazine claimed that the wiretapping decision was made by the government under Helmut Schmidt 38 years ago.

The German weekly Focus, on the other hand, claimed that the decision to wiretap Turkey's current government agencies and public institutions was made by a working group consisting of delegates from the Prime Ministry, the Department of Defence, the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Economy.

Claims regarding Germany's wiretapping were raised by Spiegel magazine last week, whereafter Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu called his counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeiner saying, "It is unacceptable that two allied countries wiretap each other."