Turkish authorities have arrested 44 people suspected of involvement in an intelligence operation on behalf of Israel against Palestinian organizations in Turkey, according to press reports.
According to a report in the pro-Turkish government newspaper Daily Sabah, the suspects are accused of espionage for Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad.
Close to the ruling party, the Turkish national intelligence service and the Istanbul police have arrested 44 people suspected of carrying out “special secret activities” under the direction of the Mossad, according to the newspaper.
The suspects were accused of spying on Palestinian citizens, institutions and NGOs in Turkey, while they (the suspects) pretended to work as employees of a consulting firm, according to the newspaper.
There are no comments from Israel yet.
However, the Times of Israel said No Israelis were arrested in this case.
He added that a number of Turkish private investigators are accused of monitoring Palestinians studying in Turkey in fields such as security and weapons production.
The suspects are accused of engaging in “threat” and “distortion” campaigns through social media platforms and targeting people about whom information was leaked to the Mossad.
This comes at a time when relations between Turkey and Israel are seeing a dramatic improvement. The two sides agreed to normalize diplomatic relations last August after more than a decade of tensions.
The Turkish newspaper had previously published reports of similar intelligence-related security operations using information received from the authorities.
In October 2021, Daily Sabah published a report which said 15 Mossad “agents” had been arrested in Turkey.
Israel accuses Ankara of helping Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip and is classified by Israel as a “terrorist” organization. Hamas has an office in Istanbul and Ankara insists that this office has no political activity.
And Turkey announced last year, through the words of those close to President Erdogan, that Ankara’s explicit support for a Palestinian state will not be affected by improved relations with Israel.
