Swiss foreign minister warns Turkey against illegal spying

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Switzerland's foreign minister told his Turkish counterpart on March 23 that his country would "rigorously investigate" any illegal spying by Ankara on expatriate Turks before the April 16 referendum that will decide whether the current parliamentary system should be replaced by an executive presidency.

During a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu, Switzerland's Didier Burkhalter underscored Swiss concerns that Turkey may have been using its intelligence network to monitor the activities of Turkish citizens in Switzerland in the run-up to the vote, according to a Swiss foreign ministry statement.

"Freedom of expression is a universal value recognized by Switzerland, which hopes that this freedom will also hold true for Turkish citizens whether they cast their votes in Switzerland or in their own country," said Burkhalter, as he "underscored the validity of Swiss law on Swiss soil" and urged Turkey "to comply with it."

The statement said Switzerland would "rigorously investigate illegal intelligence activities."

Efforts to reach the Turkish embassy late March 23 were unsuccessful.

For weeks, Burkhalter has been trying to keep his neutral country from becoming too deeply entangled in a bitter dispute between Ankara and other European nations over campaigning by Turkish politicians to drum up support for a "yes" vote in the referendum among Turks living abroad.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has accused Germany and the Netherlands of behaving like Nazis for halting some rallies by Turkish ministers, comments that both countries have called unacceptable.  

While the Swiss government has been pressured by cities including Zurich to block visits by Turkish officials, Bern has refused on the...

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