Turkey Arrests Dozens on Suspicion of Spying for Israel

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Facts

  • Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained dozens of individuals who allegedly engaged in espionage activities such as reconnaissance, surveillance, assault, and abduction on behalf of the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad.1
  • Turkey's National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and National Police carried out raids in 57 locations in eight provinces and seized 34 suspects, mostly foreign nationals, in a joint counterintelligence operation. Arrest warrants were served to 46 individuals.2
  • Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya stated that hundreds of thousands in foreign currency, an unregistered firearm, and digital materials were found during the raids. Later, another senior Turkish official claimed that Mossad used job postings on social media to recruit operatives in Turkey.3
  • The so-called Operation Mole comes in the wake of the release of recordings of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar saying that Israel was determined to kill Hamas leaders 'in every location' in the world, including Turkey.4
  • Turkey doesn't consider Hamas a terrorist organization — it maintains ties with its leadership and hosts some of its members. Last month, Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan commented that Israel would be 'doomed to pay a heavy price' if it attempted to kill Hamas members on Turkish soil.5
  • Relations between Turkey and Israel, which had returned to normalcy in 2022 after years of hostilities, have deteriorated since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Ankara had emerged as one of the most vocal opponents of Israel's military operations in Gaza.6

Sources: 1Anadolu Agency, 2I24news, 3The Arab Weekly, 4The Times of Israel, 5BBC News and 6PBS NewsHour.

Narratives

  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Daily Sabah. This large-scale intelligence operation against yet another network of individuals linked to Mossad wraps up months of preparations to prevent provocative spy activities against Turkey within Turkish borders. Ankara has consistently sought to normalize ties with Israel but this diplomacy is unsustainable if Tel Aviv continues to carry out crimes in Gaza and threaten Turkish sovereignty.
  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by ZeroHedge. It's certain that Israel has pledged to pursue Hamas leaders everywhere, but it wouldn't be a surprise if the alleged 34 Mossad spies detained on Tuesday are part of an exaggerated or even completely fabricated event staged by Ankara to further hurt Israel's reputation amid a mounting tensions between both sides.

Predictions