Germany tells Turkey not to spy on Turks living on its soil

A Kurdish woman flashes a victory sign as she arrives with a group of some 30 Turks of Kurdish descent to vote at the Turkish consulate in Huerth near Cologne, Germany March 27, 2017. REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will not tolerate foreign espionage on its territory, the interior minister said on Tuesday, in a robust response to media reports that Turkish secret services were spying on supporters of the Gulen movement in Germany.

Fethullah Gulen, a U.S-based Muslim cleric with a large following in Turkey, is accused by Ankara of orchestrating a failed military coup last July. Ankara has purged state institutions, schools and universities and the media of tens of thousands of suspected supporters of the cleric.