BERLIN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- A Hamburg court on Thursday opened the highly-anticipated trial of an alleged Turkish spy, who is accused of gathering information on Germany's Kurdish community for Turkish intelligence service MIT.
The suspect, 32-year-old Mehmet Fatih S., purportedly disguised himself as a journalist for the Kurdish TV station "Denge TV" and participated in local Kurdish community events and marches, according to the Federal Prosecution Office. The trial was opened at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court.
The suspected MIT agent hereby showed particular interest in Yuksel Koc, a senior functionary of the banned Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) whom he offered to interview. He is said to have moved to Bremen in January 2016 to get closer to the Kurdish politician.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of Thursday's trial, Koc described how he met Mehmet Fatih S.
"He tried to establish contact with us. (Posing as a) Kurdish person who is politically interested. He did everything he could to gain our trust. He spoke to people in my social circle and contacted my relatives, spoke to my mother in our village in Kurdistan. I thought he was planning to do a portrait on me," Koc said.
Koc grew suspicious, however, and has since accused Mehmet Fatih S. of plotting to murder him. The PKK activist tried to involve German security authorities who were reluctant to investigate the case at first.
The decisive tip-off was ultimately provided by Mehmet Fatih S.'s partner, who contacted the German Kurdish newspaper "Yeni Ozgur Politika", when she discovered his double life and has since gone into the witness protection program.
Mehmet Fatih S. was subsequently arrested in Hamburg near the city's railway station and has been temporarily held in police custody in Karlsruhe ever since.
The development has attracted significant interest in German media, with reports claiming that the Turkish MIT had compiled a "death list" for Kurdish activists it intended to murder in Germany. Images of Mehmet Fatih S. at pro-Kurdish rallies and as a journalist were widely published.
Despite such wild accusations, the Federal Prosecution Office does not appear to be investigating an alleged murder plot at this point.
Instead, it is focusing on charges that Mehmet Fatih S. attempted to obtain confidential information about Koc and his family life, maintaining contact throughout with MIT via email, as well as meeting representatives of the agency in Turkey.
The suspect received 30,000 euros (35,800 U.S. dollars) for his clandestine services, according to the office. Prosecutors say the man has worked for the Turkish intelligence service since 2013.
Ankara has repeatedly accused Berlin of being too lax on the PKK, with Germany supposedly providing a "safe haven" for the organization abroad.
German officials have vehemently rejected the claim, noting that the PKK has been banned in Germany since 1993 and that the German Federal Supreme Court (Bundesgerichtshof) designated the PKK a foreign terrorist association in 2010.
Around 100 of its senior functionaries have already been convicted by domestic courts and 4,400 investigations were launched into members, activists and sympathizers of the organization so far.
Nevertheless, reports by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) suggest that the PKK remains highly active in Germany with more than 14,000 members.
"It remains the largest and most powerful foreign extremist organization in Germany," a recent BfV report read. At least 13 million euros (15.6 million dollars) were raised by the PKK in the country in 2016, according to BfV officials.
A verdict against Mehmet Fatih S. could be reached by Oct. 6 at the earliest. If found guilty, he faces up to five years in prison.
