Turkey's national intelligence captures, interrogates alleged Greek spy: report

Turkey's national intelligence organisation caught a Greek citizen on suspicion of espionage activities on behalf of Athens, local media reported on Saturday.

Mohamed Amar Ampara, who was captured in Turkey, was being interrogated by the spy agency, private broadcaster NTV reported.

Ampara was operating disguised as a businessman during his trips to Turkey, NTV said, citing security sources.

He is believed to have been compiling information about the Turkish military on the border and transferring it to Greek intelligence, according to the report.

No further details were available.

Greece and Turkey have been locked in an escalating war of words over Ankara's claims that Athens has been deploying troops to islands near their maritime border in numbers that violate post-war peace treaties.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan earlier this month said that he would no longer hold bilateral meetings with Greek leaders as provided for in a 2010 agreement between the two sides.

Turkey has also accused Greece of refusing to extradite Turkish soldiers believed by Ankara to have played a direct role in the attempted 2016 coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.