Switzerland has opened a criminal probe into possible spying involving Switzerland's Turkish community, federal prosecutors said on Friday.
Attorney General’s Office spokesman Andre Marty told the Swiss broadcaster SRF the case was opened on March 16 after the national parliament gave its permission to start the investigation.
"The Office of the Attorney General has been made aware of concrete suspicion that political espionage has likely been conducted involving the Turkish community in Switzerland," the agency said in the statement.
The broadcaster said concerns that Turkish spy agencies were active in Switzerland, which has a large ethnic Turkish community, were raised after Turkey’s failed military coup last July.
The Swiss foreign minister told his Turkish counterpart on Thursday that Switzerland would "rigorously investigate" any illegal spying by Ankara on expatriate Turks before an April 16 referendum that could expand Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan's powers.
