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As many are now informing you, yes, it is normal, as is PNG-ing spies whose diplomatic cover is blown. It's so normal that the term "diplomatic cover" exists t
by ImPostingOnHN 3y ago
As many are now informing you, yes, it is normal, as is PNG-ing spies whose diplomatic cover is blown.
It's so normal that the term "diplomatic cover" exists to describe non-clandestine spies who are given a position in their country's embassy.
More commonly, local intelligence agencies try to identify and follow the spying activity of spies with diplomatic cover, rather than PNG-ing them (or more rarely, as in this case, outing them) because that's easier than the unknown quantity that would replace them.
- impossiblefork 3y agoYes, that part is indeed very normal. But the fact that the country is a formal ally makes it, in my view at least, slightly different. Of course, seeing as the US is in a defence pact with Turkey, I can understand that being ally can't mean absolute non-interference, but I feel that it gets problematic when we're talking about actual infiltration of a country's security services. I think at least the Germans expected some restraint. I suppose if one thinks back, the Germans had a different view, being opposed to giving Turkey bad crypto; and I suppose that can be seen as them restraining their activities in an unreasonable way, at the same time, I can't accept that bribing/blackmail people on the other side is compatible with an alliance. Rather, with enough bribes/blackmail the result is a secret coup of the state whose personnel is being bribed or blackmailed, and I think if you view these things as 'normal' then you might even be blind to such a coup against yourself.