by Savas Genc*, Today's Zaman | The reports German media published suggesting Germany was
wiretapping Turkey were important; but the details on these reports are
also crucial because they offer some insights into the course of
bilateral relations between Turkey and Germany. Recent reports indicated
that American intelligence was wiretapping German Chancellor Merkel.
This raised issues in bilateral relations between Washington and Berlin.
The allegations claiming Germany also wiretapped Turkey caused similar
problems and questions.Did American intelligence leak this information to take revenge on Berlin? Or did the German state deliberately leak this information to deliver a message to Ankara? This is a possibility given that Germany might have dismissed the allegations and sorted this out with the Turkish authorities behind closed doors; they could have even apologized for it. However, neither Merkel nor German bureaucrats denied the allegations. They even specifically commented on it. Speaking to the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper, German authorities did not offer an apology to Turkey and further justified what they had done by offering their reasons. Noting that Turkey cannot be compared to Britain, France or other advanced democracies, German government officials argued that wiretapping was an inevitable action for their own domestic security.
