Turkey: Greek diplomat returned after espionage claims

28. December 2009. | 07:02

Source: Zaman

A diplomat at the Greek Consulate in İzmir returned to Greece after the Turkish Foreign Ministry asked Greece to recall its diplomat over allegedly handing over Turkish military secrets to Greece.

A diplomat at the Greek Consulate in İzmir returned to Greece after the Turkish Foreign Ministry asked Greece to recall its diplomat over allegedly handing over Turkish military secrets to Greece.

The National Intelligence Organization (MİT), following nearly a year of information gathering, has revealed that a diplomat working at the Greek Consulate in İzmir was working as a spy. The scandal grew after three suspects were detained on Thursday in a counterterrorism operation carried out by the İzmir Police Department over charges of collecting confidential information and espionage on behalf of another country for material gain.

MİT followed the three suspects and found out that the suspects had attended many military and naval exercises and tried to photograph what was going on from as close as possible. The suspects were accused of giving Greece information on state secrets and military installation plans, military vehicle activity and military exercises. The suspects allegedly received 500-1,000 euros in proportion to the value of the information passed on.

MİT also closely monitored every step and activity of the diplomat for almost a year. It then presented its findings to the Foreign Ministry and the Prime Ministry. The Foreign Ministry then asked Greece to withdraw its diplomat or have Turkey declare him persona non grata. Once a diplomat is labeled persona non grata, his or her diplomatic career is seen as over because no country would accept his/her credentials.

The Greek diplomat was found to have links with the three people who were arrested. An interrogation revealed that one of the suspects, who worked as a travel agent organizing day trips to the Greek islands, was threatened by Greek intelligence officials, who said they would prevent him from organizing trips to the Greek islands, severely affecting his business. Both the diplomat and the suspects allegedly passed on secret information to the Greek Intelligence Agency (EYP) at least once a month. EYP officials reportedly promised to provide a monthly salary of 10,000 euros, but the suspects say they were fooled.