German charged with espionage speaks of Turkish contact
A man with the code name “Mustafa” was the Turkish contact of a 72-year-old German national who was facing espionage charges after being arrested on the eastern Aegean island of Chios last Thursday.
A retired mechanic, the German man had been a permanent resident of the village of Armolia since 2010 and had been allegedly taking photographs of the island’s military camps and infra-structure in exchange for cash.
In his statement to a local prosecutor the suspect stated that he contacted his Turkish contact, known to him as ‘Mustafa’ on a landline telephone in the area of Marmaris on Turkey’s southwest coast.
According to police reportes prior to moving to Chios the German national had lived in Marmaris. Police also said they believed payments, initially set at 500 euros before rising to 1,500 euros, were made to a bank account in Germany.
Police reports suggested that the 72-year-old forwarded the photographs he took through coded emails which he subsequently deleted.
On the day of his arrest he had failed to do so leading police officers to the discovery of a series of images that included photos of military vessels and vehicles at the island’s port.
In the same email the suspect also spoke of the arrest of two Greeks and two Turkish nationals who were allegedly carrying weapons and explosives to Turkey on a speedboat last week.
