„Searching the houses of these people who are doing religious services, which is also for the benefit of German society, and taking steps against them by calling them ‚criminals‘ will make Germany ashamed in the end,“ Kurtulmuş was quoted as saying by state-run Anadolu Agency on Feb. 18.

DİTİB clerics have been recently accused of spying on Turkish nationals in Germany with the aim of collecting news over people allegedly close to U.S.-based Islamic Fethullah Gülen, which the Turkish government accuses of orchestrating the failed coup attempt of July 15, 2016.