German police Wednesday searched the homes of four Turkish Muslim preachers on suspicion they spied for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government, officials said. 

The imams are accused of reporting on Turkish followers of U.S.-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, who Erdogan blames for last July's failed coup attempt against him. 

The four imams allegedly passed on information through the Turkish consulate in the western city of Cologne to the Turkish Religious Affairs Directorate, known as Diyanet, prosecutors said. 

"The purpose of today's searches is to gather further evidence on the alleged activities of the accused," prosecutors said after the raids in the western states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate.--AFP

Source :NNA