ANKARA

Turkey's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) has stated, the spying claims of the British newspaper, The Guardian were very worrying and an official statement was expected from British authorities.

The British newspaper, The Guardian published Monday in an article that Britain had spied on Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek in 2009 as he was in London to attend the G20 Summit.

Turkey's MFA noted in their statement that the claims which were published on the paper's Monday edition were very worrying.

The statement underlined that diplomatic attempts were placed and said, "It is obvious that if these claims published in the article were corrected, first of all, the related-country would face a scandal. It would be clear that the insult of an ally country like that would not be acceptable during the times of reciprocal trust and respect need to be based in international cooperation."

"In regards to the issue, it is expected to receive a satisfying and an official statement from British authorities," MFA added.

Earlier Monday, Turkey’s Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said, "If The Guardian's spying claims are confirmed, then we will strongly condemn it and do all what is necessary."

The Guardian published that Britain had spied on Turkish Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek in 2009 as he was in London to attend the G20 Summit.

According to the news report of the British newspaper, The Guardian, Finance Minister Simsek was spied by GCHQ, one of the three UK intelligence agencies while he was in capital London to attend the G20 Summit in 2009.

The newspaper referred to the report of GCHQ and said, "On the contrary, the top-secret document about a G20 finance ministers' meeting in London starting on September 2, 2009 makes clear that the wiretappers' 'reporting requirements' were to find out nothing more than Ankara's attitudes to financial regulation and reform."

Furthermore, the British paper added, the 2009 surveillance of the Turkish finance minister, and the possible targeting of up to 15 members of his delegation to London was also placed to make sure "Turkish 'willingness (or not) to co-operate with the rest of the G20 nations'."