The Turkish police have announced the arrest of seven individuals, including a private investigator, on suspicion of selling information to the Israeli Intelligence Agency Mossad. Security sources stated that the private investigator, a former government employee, is suspected of gathering information on companies and individuals from the Middle East residing in Türkiye, planting tracking devices and engaging in surveillance operations. The sources indicated that the arrests were part of an operation conducted by the National Intelligence Organization and the Anti-Terror Police in Istanbul. It was reported that the accused received training from Mossad in the Serbian capital Belgrade and was paid in cryptocurrency that did not appear in official records. In addition to that case, a Turkish court ordered the arrest of 15 individuals and the deportation of eight others suspected of having links to Mossad and targeting Palestinians living in the country this January. One month later, Türkiye arrested seven persons of selling information to Mossad. Turkish and Israeli officials have been exchanging arguments since the onset of the Israeli war on Hamas in October. Ankara has warned Israel of “severe consequences” if it attempts to pursue Hamas members living outside Palestinian territories, including those residing in Türkiye.
In January, the Turkish newspaper “Hurriyet” published a report stating that Turkish intelligence had carried out its fourth major operation against Mossad since 2021. Following “Operation Mutiny” in October 2021, which resulted in the arrest of 29 individuals, “Operation Neoplas” followed in December 2022, with 68 agents arrested, and “Operation Nekbet” in April 2023 targeting 17 agents, finally “Operation City of the Dead” targeting 46 individuals. This operation was portrayed as a strong response to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad, accusing the Israeli security to carry out assassinations in Türkiye. The 2021 operation targeted foreigners recruited by Mossad as “agents”, and the 2022 operation was against private investigators and tactical employees, targeting 58 foreigners and 39 Turkish citizens, in total 97 individuals. Türkiye accused Israel of posting job advertisements or links without providing details on social media or in chat groups, asking relevant individuals to connect with them. Those responding to these advertisements and links are assigned various tasks to prepare them for the final mission. After the first contact, the Israeli Intelligence Agency should have continued to communicate with the agency using Telegram and WhatsApp applications, only contacting them in writing.
In recent times, Israel has been silence regarding the Turkish accusations, refusing to comment on Ankara’s charges against Mossad. However, some political circles in Israel believe that Türkiye is using these accusations politically to pressure Tel Aviv. Israel considers Ankara’s actions as a response to its rejection of the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel, especially following the war on the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan continues to levy accusations against Israel on several issues, chiefly the war on Gaza, in recent times. Nonetheless, Erdogan’s relations with Israel have been characterized by constant change over the past years, depending on Erdogan’s political stance and his desire to gain domestic popularity or not.
Despite the close intelligence cooperation between Turkish intelligence and Mossad for years with a close partnership against what Israeli sources have called common enemies such as Syria, Iraq, and Iran, relations between the two intelligence agencies have recently deteriorated, reaching a near-complete breakdown. This deterioration is on the backdrop of Israel’s accusation of Turks cooperating with Iranian intelligence, in addition to the diplomatic relations between the two countries going through a severe crisis for several years, according to sources in Tel Aviv.
Experts believe that Türkiye’s actions, due to its strong relations with Hamas in Gaza since Erdogan’s AKP took power, are notable. Despite this, Türkiye has a long history of relations with Israel, beginning in the second half of the 20th century, marked by close economic and strategic ties. Türkiye was also the first country in the region to officially recognize Israel after its establishment. Not long after Recep Tayyip Erdogan came to power in 2002, relations with Israel deteriorated, while relations with Hamas improved. In 2006, Khaled Meshaal, then-leader of Hamas, visited Türkiye at an invitation from Erdogan. At that time, Israel, the United States, the European Union, and other countries had designated Hamas as a terrorist organization. The first diplomatic crisis between Israel and Türkiye in front of a global audience emerged when Erdogan walked out of a meeting during the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2009 after a clash with then-Israeli President Shimon Peres over Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. The Turkish leader vowed never to return to Davos, and indeed, he has not since then. Just one year later, tensions escalated to a breaking point when the “Mavi Marmara” ship sailed from Istanbul to Gaza carrying volunteers and humanitarian aid to challenge Israel’s naval blockade on the Gaza Strip. When the ship refused to stop, it was stormed by Israeli commandos in international waters, resulting in the death of ten Turkish citizens on board during the ensuing clashes. This incident led Türkiye to suspend its diplomatic relations with Israel for several years. Türkiye’s shift away from Israel and engaging in closer ties with the Palestinians is attributed to this.
Experts believe that Erdogan’s longstanding support for Hamas aims to appease the conservative nationalist political groups, which felt that the AKP did not react sufficiently in the early days of the conflict. Türkiye’s strained relationship with Israel only improved last year, and after months of reappointing ambassadors to each other’s countries, the war broke out. Türkiye recalled its ambassador, and the Israeli ambassador returned to Tel Aviv for security reasons. However, since the war on Gaza, Erdogan has begun making statements against Israel, despite the continuation of trade relations between the two countries. Images of Israeli soldiers using Turkish water and products spread, indicating that the tension in relations was only superficial. In Türkiye, criticism of the government intensified, with several political parties and humanitarian organizations holding sit-ins and protests demanding an immediate halt to the export of goods to Israel. A group of citizens also demonstrated in front of the headquarters of “Zorlu” Holding, one of Türkiye’s leading investment companies in the energy sector with a strong presence in Israel, with investments there exceeding one billion dollars.
The government did not show significant responsiveness to these accusations, reactions from the relevant ministries being limited to statements indicating a slowdown in trade with Israel, without engaging in a detailed debate on the issue. According to data from the Turkish Statistical Institute, exports to Israel reached $489 million in October 2022. Official data from the Turkish Ministry of Transport showed that since October 7 of the previous year, 701 Turkish ships had headed to Israel, averaging eight ships per day.
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