Turkey busts ‘Mossad espionage network’, arrests 15 men for spying on Palestinians & foreign students – reports — RT World News
Turkey’s intelligence agency reportedly cracked a Mossad spy ring in an operation earlier this month, exposing five cells and arresting 15 men suspected of conducting covert activities on foreign students and Palestinians.
The National Intelligence Organization shared information after having tracked the network over a period of more than a year. Sabah Daily newspaper reported that 200 members of the team raided four provinces’ cells on October 7th.
The Turkish newspaper reported that the arrested men had been instructed to gather information on foreign students, particularly Palestinians, enrolled in Turkish universities – with an eye on those thought to have a future in the defense industry. According to reports, the spies also had to look into other organizations or associations hosting Palestinians in Turkey.
The network apparently used this information to put together profiles on individuals, which were then relayed to Mossad officials through end-to-end encryption programs like ProtonMail and SafeUM – a software that generates fake phone numbers. They communicated via WhatsApp.
According to the newspaper, payments were made via Western Union and Moneygram. In some instances, even Bitcoin. A courier service was also developed by the network to send funds via markets or jewelry shops.
One of the suspects, identified by his initials ‘A.B.’, was said to be a payment courier who was reported missing in Istanbul’s Maltepe district in June – in an apparent bid to mislead security forces. According to reports, he was paid $10,000 for his spying efforts this year.
Another individual named as ‘R.A.A’ apparently met with Mossad field agents in the Croatian capital of Zagreb and received payments of $1,000 and $1,200. A third member, ‘M.A.S’, travelled to Zurich twice to meet with an official. Like ‘A.B’, both men had previously been reported missing.
While the Daily Sabah did not disclose the men’s nationalities, a number of Israeli and Arab papers have reported that they were of “Arab origin.”According to the Middle East Eye outlet (MEE), six Palestinians were reported as missing from Turkey in late October.
In a phone interview with MEE, the brother of an alleged Mossad agent identified by the initial ‘M’ said that he had received a call from M a few days ago confirming that he was in police custody in Istanbul and asking him to hire a lawyer.
He claimed that the claims were made by his brother. “all false.”M was said to have lived in Turkey over the last nine years. He is believed to be expected in Konya within two months of graduating from the medical school.
Massnews.com also available
Turkey’s Erdogan considers kicking out 10 Western ambassadors over calls to release jailed opposition figure Kavala – media
Meanwhile, an unidentified source close to the Israeli security establishment told MEE that the spy ring may have been working for both Mossad and the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service. According to the source, the alleged spy ring may have been monitoring students who are studying in fields that could be used by Hamas militant group Hamas.
According to the Daily Sabah report, “comprehensive indictment”After the MIT has interrogated the suspects, they will be ready.
Official statements from neither the Israeli nor Turkish authorities on the subject have yet to be made.
This story is worth sharing with your friends!
[ad_2]
