Türkiye’s Nationwide Intelligence Group (MIT) on Tuesday stated it had caught 11 individuals, together with two Turkish nationals, who have been spying for the Israeli intelligence company Mossad.
The group of 15 operated a national community and was helmed by Selçuk Küçükkaya, a person skilled in Europe, the company stated in a press release.
MIT officers led an investigation in coordination with the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Workplace on Küçükkaya, with whom Mossad obtained in touch by way of Serkan Özdemir, a former Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) personnel who fled Türkiye to dodge prosecution for being a member of the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ).
Küçükkaya met in individual with Mossad executives who launched themselves as Jose-Jorhe Satia, Thomas Alfonso, and Raul in a number of European international locations the place he was put via particular trials and spy coaching. He was additionally taught the company’s secret communication system and will contact different operatives via it.
In keeping with MIT, Küçükkaya was tasked with gathering intelligence on an organization and 23 people with commerce ties to Iran and focused by Israel. He watched the houses and workplaces of the stated people’ households and leaked info to Mossad about their flights to and from overseas, cellphone conversations and alerts, financial institution accounts and properties.
Küçükkaya and his accomplices have been caught when he mailed a threatening bundle to certainly one of his targets, who filed a grievance.
Whereas 11 of them have been apprehended in an operation in Istanbul, two operatives that fled are nonetheless being pursued, MIT stated.
The final time the Turkish company busted a Mossad cell in Türkiye was in December, as some seven individuals discovered spying on Palestinians within the nation have been arrested. The company had knowledgeable that the suspects have been serving to Mossad launch on-line defamation campaigns and threats towards Palestinians.
MIT, in cooperation with Turkish police, has uncovered a string of espionage networks in recent times, together with one working for Russia, and thwarted a plot by Iran to assassinate Israeli residents in Türkiye. Operations have additionally led to the invention of a narrative by Iranian intelligence operatives to kidnap Iranian dissidents who took shelter in Türkiye.