Turkish 'intelligence agent' claims he was ordered to assassinate Austrian politician

A suspected Turkish intelligence agent turned whistleblower is being held under arrest in Austria after he handed himself in to authorities claiming he had been ordered to assassinate a prominent politician.

In a clear sign Austrian authorities are taking the claims seriously, the targetted politician has been under police protection since the investigation started and is not allowed to leave her home without a bullet-proof vest.

Lawyers for the arrested man, Feyyaz Öztürk, an Italian citizen of Turkish heritage, will confirm only that he is being held on charges of spying for a foreign state and that he willingly turned himself in to the Austrian authorities. Prosecutors refused to comment on the grounds the investigation is ongoing.

But a police report on his initial interrogation leaked to the Austrian press and seen by the Daily Telegraph reveals details of his claims, that, if proved, would raise serious concerns over how far Turkey is prepared to go to silence its critics under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan — and whether it is ready to resort to assassinations on European soil.

In the interrogation, Mr Öztürk claims he was blackmailed by Turkey’s MIT intelligence service into taking part in an operation to assassinate Berivan Aslan, an Austrian regional politician of Kurdish heritage.

“It wasn’t important whether she got hurt or died,” he told Austrian police. The aim, he claimed, was to “spread chaos” and for Ms Aslan and others to “get the message.”

He also claimed violent attacks were planned against two other politicians, including Peter Pilz, a household name in Austria and the former leader of the opposition Now party.

When offered the opportunity, Daniel Mozga, Mr Öztürk’s lawyer. declined to challenge the authenticity of the leaked report. He confirmed a police interrogation had taken place shortly before it was first published by a news website run by Mr Pilz.

In what has become a major embarrassment to the Austrian authorities, Mr Öztürk attempted to hand himself in at a police station in the southern city of Graz in April but was turned away because of coronavirus rules — a detail confirmed by Mr Mozga.

Instead Mr Öztürk was given a phone number for the BVT domestic intelligence service in Vienna, but it did not begin to investigate his case until September. When he finally came to be interrogated, he gave an alarming account.

He claimed he had been approached by Turkish intelligence and blackmailed into taking part in the operation against Ms Aslan. He alleged the assassination attempt against her was supposed to take place in March, but he got stuck in the Italian town of Rimini after breaking his leg in an accident.

Ms Aslan, a regional MP for the Green Party, confirmed to the Telegraph that she has been under police protection since the investigation began. She is under permanent police surveillance and is not allowed to leave home without a bullet-proof vest. A prominent campaigner for Kurdish and women’s rights, Ms Aslan has received death threats in the past, but says this is different.

“The dimension of violence has changed. I am massively restricted in my freedom, every time I have an appointment away from home I think twice whether I need to go,” she told the Telegraph. “This feels like house arrest.”

Mr Pilz told the Telegraph he was also offered police protection after Mr Öztürk named him as a potential target, but claimed the offer was later withdrawn.

The Turkish embassy in Vienna denied the allegations and any links to Mr Öztürk. “After a thorough review it is clear that the person in question has no links whatsoever to the Turkish state. The allegations made in this regard are not true,” Ozan Ceyhun, the Turkish ambassador, told the Telegraph.

If true, the allegations would represent a dramatic escalation in Turkish intelligence operations in Europe. While Russia has been prepared to carry out assassinations on European soil under Vladimir Putin, few other countries are known to have gone so far in recent years.

The allegations come at a difficult moment for Austrian-Turkish relations after weeks of rival demonstrations by Turkish and Kurdish groups in Vienna over the summer. In June a pro-Kurdish protest was attacked by a rival Turkish group. The incident set off several days of riots in the Austrian capital.

A police commission was set up to investigate whether Turkish intelligence had a hand in the riots, and the interior ministry claimed a Turkish spy was unmasked in the course of the investiation.

“There is no place for Turkish espionage in Austria,” Karl Nehammer, the interior minister, said..

“There is a clear attempt to exert influence on individuals, associations and mosques by Turkish intelligence,” Susanne Raab, the integration minister, said. “Erdogan’s long arm reaches Vienna’s Favoriten district.”

Efgani Dönmez, a former Austrian Green party MP and vocal critic of Mr Erdogan, believes Turkey could be prepared to assassinate its crictis in Europe. “It’s possible, in cooperation with extremist groups and individuals they could distance themselves from if things got tight,” he said.

The alleged targeting of Mr Pilz, an Austrian politician with no Turkish or Kurdish heritage, would also represent a new development. Previous allegations of harrassment by Turkish intelligence have been confined to the exile and immigrant communities.

Mr Pilz, who previously served on the Austrian parliament’s intelligence committee, is a longstanding critic of Mr Erdogan and in 2017 he published  a detailed report on alleged connections between the Turkey’s ruling AKP party and MIT intelligence operations in Austria.

Ms Aslan claims the MIT network in Austria numbers “at least 400 informants” from the immigrant community. “Some of them want to protect themselves and their families. System loyalty plays an important role for others.

According to the leaked police report, Mr Öztürk also claimed he was coerced into giving false testimony against a local staff member at the US consulate-general in Istanbul in 2017.

Metin Topuz was later sentenced to almost 9 years in prison on charges of aiding an armed terror group/

“They slid me in as a witness and put a blank paper in front of me, which I signed,” Mr Öztürk said. “They always do it like that in Turkey. Otherwise I could have gone to prison with Mr Topuz.”

Mr Topuz’s conviction was heavily criticised by the US at the time. “This conviction undermines confidence in Turkey’s institutions and the critical trust at the foundation of Turkish-American relations,” Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, said.