Last week it became public that Yilmaz S., one of the cooperation lawyers of the German Embassy in Ankara, had been arrested in September. The Turkish judiciary accuses him of espionage. Yilmaz S. is said to have obtained information from the Turkish public prosecutor's office about persons from Turkey who have applied for asylum in Germany and passed it on to the embassy. According to media reports, he has been working for the embassy in this way for 22 years.

One of the at least 43 files that fell into the hands of the Turkish secret service MIT during the arrest of Yilmaz S. was the file from the asylum proceedings of the Kurdish politician Leyla Birlik. As the former deputy of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) explained to ANF, she has been aware of the events for a while: "I was informed by the Federal Ministry of the Interior that my file had been confiscated by MIT and that life safety was endangered as a result".

The politician, who lives in exile because of her persecution in Turkey, rejected police protection: "It is known where I am in Germany and what I do. I continue my political work among our people. People fleeing Turkey to Germany are intended to be intimidated. I trust that I am sufficiently protected among the people of my folk."

Leyla Birlik has been told that a total of 69 asylum files have fallen into the hands of MIT. The politician wants a statement from the German authorities: "Germany is responsible for the safety of the people who apply for asylum here. Obviously this has not been taken into account. The question arises as to why the Turkish state carried out this operation. The Erdoğan regime is conducting a hostage policy against Germany and other Western states. The federal government must finally break its silence and impose sanctions against Turkey."