According to Turkish intelligence, the Mossad ring that is waging war against Iran has been revealed.
Pro-government Turkish media reports 11 arrests in the second alleged Mossad spy operation discovered less than six months ahead of Sunday’s runoff elections.
This is the second time in less than a year that Istanbul claims it has uncovered an espionage network run by Israel’s Mossad. On Tuesday, Turkey’s top intelligence agency claimed to have detained seven members of an alleged Israeli Mossad spy ring.
The Daily Sabah website reports that the 15-person cell was discovered during an 18-month operation by MIT, Turkey’s national intelligence agency. According to the report, it includes at least one individual who had training in Israel.
The pro-government Turkish tabloid Daily Sabah stated that 11 persons had been seized on suspicion of spying for the Israeli foreign intelligence service as part of a 15-person nationwide network, citing Turkey’s National Intelligence Organisation (MIT).
The alleged network, MIT added, had been set up with the help of a follower of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is said to have focused on conducting surveillance on figures with commercial ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Turkey has blamed Gulen, a former ally of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for fomenting a failed 2016 coup and has designated his organization a terrorist group.
The alleged network, MIT added, had been set up with the help of a follower of U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, who is said to have focused on conducting surveillance on figures with commercial ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Turkey has blamed Gulen, a former ally of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for fomenting a failed 2016 coup and has designated his organization a terrorist group.
Turkey declared in October 2021 that it had detained a purported spy ring run by Israel’s Mossad. 16 people were later tried in Istanbul on charges of “political and military” espionage on behalf of Israel, including Turkish citizens, Syrians, and Palestinians.
In December of last year, Sabah claimed that 44 people suspected of working for Israeli intelligence had been apprehended by MIT and the Istanbul police.
The Mossad, according to Turkish officials, allegedly assigned them to spy on Palestinian expatriates and related NGOs organizations in Turkey
Israeli and Turkish intelligence services worked together in June 2022 to thwart a number of Iranian plans targeting Israeli tourists in Istanbul. Nearly ten suspects, including Iranian intelligence agents and Revolutionary Guards posing as students and businesspeople, were seized by Turkish police on suspicion of plotting specific assaults in Istanbul on Israeli diplomats and tour groups.
In recent years, MIT has asserted that it has discovered numerous espionage networks. These discoveries included a network that was reportedly serving Russia. They also stopped an Iranian assassination attempt on Israeli residents in Turkey. Additionally, the agency’s operations have revealed an Iranian intelligence plot to kidnap Iranian dissidents looking for asylum in Turkey.
Benny Gantz, Israel’s former defense minister, commended the “close, covert contact” between the intelligence services of the two nations as well as Turkey’s “life-saving security cooperation” for averting the threat of Iranian terrorist attacks. As part of a drive to completely mend bilateral relations, Gantz announced the restart of defense ties with Turkey during the first visit by an Israeli defense minister to Ankara in ten years.
About National Intelligence Organization (MIT)
The National Intelligence Organisation (Turkish: Millî “stihbarat Teşkilat”), usually known by its Turkish initials MIT or MT, or simply as the Organisation (Turkish: Teşkilat), is a government-run intelligence service entrusted with acquiring data relevant to Turkey’s interests at home and abroad. It compiles data on existing and potential threats to all aspects of Turkey’s integrity, constitutional order, existence, independence, security, and national power for the Presidency and Armed Forces so that they can take required precautions when necessary.
Law No. 2937, the Law on the State Intelligence Services, and the Turkish National Intelligence Organisation, as well as a number of other legislation, provide the Organisation with its legal foundation and organizational structure. There were four primary departments before November 2016. There are now six departments.
The MT is in charge of gathering intelligence on current and potential threats from internal and external sources posed against the country’s territory, its citizens, and their integrity, as well as its existence, independence, security, and all other components that make up the constitutional order and its national power.
