Turkish authorities claim to have exposed ‘ghost’ cell including dozens of Mossad spies.
By World Israel News Staff
Turkish authorities on Monday claimed that they exposed an Israeli spy ring centered in Istanbul spanning dozens of operatives.
According to a report by the pro-Erdogan Daily Sabah, Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Anti-Terrorism Branch of the Istanbul Police department arrested seven suspected spies.
All seven of the alleged spies reportedly confessed to working on behalf of Israel’s Mossad.
The arrests and subsequent interrogations led to the uncovering of a broader “ghost” cell of agents working for Israel in Turkey, with 56 operatives being identified in total, according to the Daily Sabah.
The 56 operatives in Turkey were directed by nine different Mossad handlers in Israel, the report said, and had the ability to operate internationally.
Citing documents from the National Intelligence Organization, the report claimed that the Mossad network was working to compile biographical information on foreign nationals operating in Turkey, tracked the movements of their vehicles via GPS, and hacked into their private internet networks.
In some instances, the spies followed and photographed individuals of interest to the Mossad, under the supervision of an Israeli Arab operative named Soliman Agbaria.
The cell reportedly set up fake news websites to attract targets, which would then be infected with computer viruses, enabling the team to infiltrate the targets’ devices.
Turkey has made similar claims in recent years, boasting of Mossad-aligned spy rings broken up earlier this year, in 2022, and in 2021.
In May of this year, Turkish media outlets reported that local authorities had arrested 11 people accused of being part of a Mossad-led network.
Last December, Turkish authorities detained 44 suspects accused of working for the Mossad.
In October, 2021, 15 Arabs who were said to be working for the Mossad were arrested. Turkey claimed the spies were involved in gathering information on Palestinians and other foreign students enrolled in Turkish universities along with the organizations that hosted them.