Turkey Summons US Charge d'Affaires over Spying Report

Turkey's Foreign Ministry has summoned the US charge d'affaires over a media report that the United States had spied on Turkey intensively since 2006.

Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told journalists on September 1 that the Foreign Ministry had summoned the U.S. charge d'affaires, currently the senior American diplomat in Ankara, "to demand an explanation" on the case, according to reports of Today's Zaman.

German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Sunday that the US National Security Agency (NSA) and Britain's GCHQ surveillance agency had carried out "wide-scale spying against Turkey", citing documents from the archive of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Several weeks ago, the German magazine said that Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency had been spying on Turkey for years.

The Foreign Ministry in Ankara also issued a statement urging the US to give a "satisfactory explanation" on activities it allegedly carried out in Turkey.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan vowed on Monday that he would discuss the issues "with leaders first at the NATO Summit and then at the United Nations [General Assembly]".

The alliance meeting is scheduled for September 4-5, while the UNGA is due later this month.