ANKARA (Reuters) – Seven people suspected of having exchanged information with Mossad, Israel’s intelligence service, to facilitate the identification of “targets” have been arrested in Turkey, a Turkish security official said on Friday.
Ankara has warned Israel of “serious consequences” if it were to track down members of the Palestinian group Hamas abroad, and in particular on Turkish soil.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since the start of hostilities between Hamas and the Jewish state on October 7.
Turkish police and Intelligence (MIT) carried out joint operations in Istanbul and Izmir as part of an investigation led by the Istanbul prosecutor’s office, said the Turkish official on condition of anonymity.
Last month, Turkish authorities arrested 34 people suspected of being linked to Mossad and of targeting Palestinians living in Turkey.
TRT television reported Friday that MIT had determined that Mossad was using private detectives to track its targets.
The seven people arrested are suspected of having monitored and photographed “targets” and of having collected information on behalf of the Mossad, TRT added, citing an anonymous security source.
Ankara made no official statement and the Israeli Foreign Ministry declined to comment.
(Reporting by Ece Toksabay, French version Zhifan Liu, editing by)
©2024 Thomson Reuters, all rights reserved. Reuters content is the intellectual property of Thomson Reuters or its third party content providers. Any copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. Thomson Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. “Reuters” and the Reuters Logo are trademarks of Thomson Reuters and its affiliated companies.