Turkey has claimed that it recently detained 11 people for allegedly operating against Iranian targets. As per a report published in the Daily Sabah on May 23, 2023, the Turkish officials identified 15 suspects, and arrested 11 of them, who were part of a 23-member ring of operatives.

In a joint statement, the National Intelligence Organisation (of Turkey) and the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office have mentioned that those 15 people used a company, which operates in Iran, to collect intelligence for the Israeli spy agency. Now, the Turkish Police are conducting a search operation to catch the two additional suspects. It may be noted that the concerned authorities in Turkey have been closely monitoring the activities of a total of 23 individuals, including two Turkish nationals, for the last 18 months. They found that Selçuk Küçükkaya, a middle-aged man, was the leader of the ring. It seems that Mossad recruited Küçükkaya through an alleged member of the Gülen Movement, an opposition network that is designated as a terror outfit by Ankara.

The Turkish authorities have revealed that Küçükkaya met Mossad agents in Europe. He had to clear five test assignments before being recruited as the head of the ring. Later, Mossad asked Küçükkaya to gather information about “the family members of the target persons, phone calls and signal information, bank accounts and assets”. The concerned authorities in Ankara came to know about the ring while making a broad counter-intelligence effort directed at Israeli, Russian and Iranian operatives on Turkish soil.

Meanwhile, the Turkish officials have made no comments on the legal procedures pending in the case of the 11 suspects in custody. In 2022, Ankara claimed to have broken up a Mossad ring and put 15 people on trial for espionage.

Turkey used to maintain cordial commercial ties with Israel in the past. However, the bilateral relations soured after Recep Tayyip Erdoğan came to power in the early 2000s. Although Ankara and Jerusalem decided to restore full diplomatic relations in 2022, the Erdoğan Administration still backs the Palestinian cause. Furthermore, President Erdoğan is trying hard to boost Turkey’s ties with the Arab nations. Keeping in mind the current regional geopolitical landscape, experts have opined that Turkey would never consider Israel as a friend.

As expected, Israel, which rarely comments publicly on Mossad actions, is yet to react to the Turkish allegation that a Mossad ring was targeting Iran.

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das