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Leaders of the G20 group (file photo)
Mon Jun 17, 2013 5:12PM GMT
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Turkey
has summoned British charge d'affaires over a report that Britain spied
on the Turkish finance minister's emails and phone calls during a G20
meeting in 2009.
In the absence of the ambassador, the ministry summoned the charge d'affaires "to express our concerns over the allegations," a Foreign Ministry diplomat said on condition of anonymity on Monday, adding that Ankara was expecting an "official and satisfying explanation" from British authorities.
The move came after revelation by the British newspaper the Guardian that UK spied on foreign delegates including Turkey's Mehmet Simsek at G20 meetings in London four years ago
The paper said it has seen documents from Britain's signal spying body, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), that shows British spies persuaded members of foreign delegates to use specially prepared Internet cafes to be able to monitor their communications including emails and phone calls.
The documents have been among those revealed by the US whistleblower and former CIA members Edward Snowden.
Earlier, Turkey's Foreign Ministry said if the report was true, "such an action by an ally country is unacceptable," adding, "This will constitute a scandal in terms of relations between the two countries if any truth is found in the allegations."
Snowden reportedly flew to Hong Kong last month from Hawaii, where he worked for an NSA facility, carrying a trove of documents about top-secret telephone and Internet surveillance programs.
He has further revealed that the United States had tapped into the computer systems of China and numerous other countries.
PG/SS
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