Turkey Spied on U.S. Residents in America Using D.C.-Based Law Firm

From Obama’s “most trusted and favorite” foreign leader. One target fears consequences for relatives. Well done, Hussein.

Turkey Gathered Information in the U.S. Against Its Critics

U.S. law firm compiled reports that Turkish Embassy forwarded to prosecutors; one target fears consequences for relatives

By Wall Street Journal,  Nov. 13, 2019:

WASHINGTON—Turkey’s government used a Washington law firm to gather information about its critics, including residents of the U.S., who it believed were allied with a movement that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regards as a central enemy, according to documents reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

The information, gathered at the behest of the Turkish Embassy in Washington, was transmitted to public prosecutors in Turkey, according to two Turkish government memorandums marked “secret.” Activists said they fear the data is being used in investigations of Mr. Erdogan’s perceived adversaries.

The documents underscore Ankara’s intense antipathy toward individuals and groups it sees associated with Fethullah Gulen, a cleric who leads a world-wide, moderate Islamic movement from exile in rural Pennsylvania.

Mr. Erdogan, who met with President Trump at the White House on Wednesday, said he was presenting additional documentation to support Turkey’s demand that Mr. Gulen be extradited to Turkey, accusing the cleric of being behind a 2016 coup attempt against the president. U.S. officials have said Ankara hasn’t provided sufficient proof of Mr. Gulen’s involvement, and Mr. Gulen denies having played any role in the matter.

Since the coup attempt, more than 600,000 investigations have been opened by Turkey into people considered members of movements such as Mr. Gulen’s, the State Department said earlier this year in its annual report on human rights. More than 80,000 people have been imprisoned in conditions where problems included “suspicious deaths of persons in custody; forced disappearances; torture” and other rights concerns, the State Department said.

Read the rest here.