Türkiye: new arrests of people accused of spying for the Israeli Mossad
While the President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is expected in Turkey this Tuesday March 5 by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish authorities announce the arrest of seven individuals suspected of having collaborated with the Mossad, the security service. Israeli foreign intelligence.
The raids have multiplied in recent months, in a context of sharp deterioration in Turkey-Israel relations since the start of the war in Gaza.
Since the start of 2024, Turkey has arrested dozens of people suspected of spying for Israel's intelligence services.
AP - Emrah Gurel
By: RFI Follow
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With our correspondent in Istanbul
,
Anne Andlauer
Among those arrested is a former Turkish police chief, now a private detective.
The man is accused of having collected, on behalf of Mossad, information on individuals and companies from the Middle East.
Since the start of the year, this is the
third Turkish counterespionage operation
targeting suspected recruits of the Israeli intelligence services.
The dragnets intensified after the outbreak of the war in Gaza, and the Turkish authorities are keen to make this known, releasing numerous details in the press about the suspects and their targets.
Ankara is reportedly seeking in particular to dismantle a network of private detectives accused of spying on, and sometimes intimidating, Palestinians and other Middle Eastern nationals based on its soil.
By making these operations public, Ankara is sending a message to the Hebrew State, with which it has not severed either its trade or its diplomatic relations, despite
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
's regular diatribes against the offensive in Gaza.
In December, the Turkish president warned of "
serious consequences
" if Israel carried out its threats to attack Hamas officials in Turkey.
Read alsoWar in Gaza: the double face of Ankara, while Israel remains “a strategic partnership” for Turkey
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