By M. Bilal Kenasari
ANKARA
Allegations that surfaced in German media over the weekend that Germany has been spying on NATO partner Turkey for the last five years resulted in the summoning of the German ambassador in Ankara on Monday to explain, point to a crisis in the relationship, say international law experts.
German Weekly Der Spiegel claimed German spy agency (the Bundesnachrichtendienst) eavesdropped on U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his predecessor Hillary Clinton, also argued that, Turkey was spied since 2009.
In an article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the chairman of the Bundestag's Committee on Internal Affairs, Wolfgang Bosbach (CDU) said there are some "good reasons" to spy on Turkey.
He referred to the activities of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as well as left and right-wing Turkish groups in Germany. Also, the newspaper mentioned that drug trafficking smuggling and "the direct affect of the tensions in Syria and Iraq border, where some German military is also stationed" is a factor.
AK Party Vice President Yasin Aktay contested this by saying; "they should have requested from Turkey to share information."
International law expert, Mesut Hakki Casin from Istanbul based Ozyegin University, says that German is violating the Vienna convention, which states that ally countries can not spy on each other.
Allegations of spying undermines trust, adds Casin.
However another international law expert, Selman Ogut from Istanbul-based Medipol University, says international law on spying is not very clear. "Each country has right to argue that, political and national integrity is essential" Ogut says. "Also, NATO Treaty Article 4 points national integrity, and political independence and security issues, if Turkey would use this argument, Turkey's right can not be questioned."
Because of historical and sociological ties between the two countries - the three million strong Turkish community in Germany - the Turkish people can not accept the spying, says Casin.
AK Party Vice President Mehmet Ali Sahin harshly criticizes Der Spiegel, "it never says anything good about Turkey". Der Spiegel often unjustifiably criticize AK Party and Recep Tayyip Erdogan, thus we have to be careful about this claim, as the source of the claim should be questioned" he says.
While Turkey's foreign ministry asked for explanation if the speculations are true, Aktay said to AA, "Speculations should be cleared off in order to continue the relations as before."
in 2013, U.S.-German relations suffered significant damage after the alleged surveillance of Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone by the U.S. National Security Agency, or NSA.
www.aa.com.tr/en
