Turkiye intelligence agency catch Israeli Ghost network of Mossad agents

Turkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has exposed a vast ghost network of dozens of operatives working for the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, in the latest Turkish operation to bust a foreign espionage ring.

The MIT recently uncovered a cell of 56 Mossad operatives, based primarily on confessions obtained from seven relevant people who were apprehended in an operation conducted in collaboration with the Istanbul Police Department’s Anti-Terrorism Branch.

The spies were tied to nine networks overseen by nine senior Mossad agents based in the Israeli capital, Tel Aviv, and were responsible for the gathering of biographical intelligence on non-Turkish foreign nationals residing in Turkiye.

The operatives used a series of methods including online routing, the tracking of vehicle movements through GPS, hacking into password-protected networks based on Wi-Fi devices and sourcing and identifying private locations.

The physical tracking and following of targets was also conducted, particularly of individuals Mossad deemed necessary to surveil, and have meetings photographed.

The Turkish authorities said that the investigation of the cell was carried out over a period of 18 months. They noted that a threatening package sent by the cell to one of the targeted individuals triggered the investigation.

Selcuk Kucukkaya is alleged to be the leader of the group, said Sabah. He was apparently recruited by the Mossad through a member of the Fethullah Gulen organisation, which is designated as a terrorist group by the Turkish authorities.

Turkiye’s National Intelligence Agency (MIT) has uncovered and arrested eleven people said to be part of an Israeli Mossad cell spying on individuals and entities related to Iran.

Much of the work was reportedly supervised by Israelis of Arab origin and the cell was made up of citizens from various Middle Eastern countries.

Agents within Turkiye and abroad communicated using single-use mobile phone lines based in Spain, England, Germany, Sweden, Malaysia, Indonesia and Belgium, all of which were owned by fake identities.

One example provided by the paper was that of an agent codenamed ‘Shirin Alayan’ who used a German phone line to instruct a Palestinian Mossad operative – Khaled Nijim – to set up fake news platforms and websites.

These would serve the purpose of attracting the attention of targets to certain articles, which would then infect the targets’ phones or devices with a virus when they clicked on links.

A more international dynamic was also discovered by MIT, in that Mossad sent its Istanbul-based operatives of Arab origin to Arab states such as Lebanon and Syria, where they gathered intelligence to mark locations for potential or future Israeli drone strikes.

The deployment of agents to the Lebanese capital, Beirut, were ordered to explore its Haret Hreik municipality, where they are said to have identified the exact coordinates for a building in which the Hezbollah movement and its high-ranking political and military figures operate from on its third floor.

Mossad also reportedly sent dozens of its agents, especially Turks, to Serbia, then Dubai and then Thailand’s capital, Bangkok – locations where Turkish citizens do not need a visa – in secret three-stop “touristic” trips.

On the final leg of those trips, they were taken to a Mossad center in Bangkok to advance their espionage skills.

The revelation is the latest of MIT’s and Turkish security services’ numerous operations to bust and dismantle Mossad spy cells and networks within Turkiye over the past few years, which appear to have increased significantly amid regional developments.

Israel’s spy agency and its operatives have not been the only targets of Turkish intelligence, as it has also exposed and arrested numerous Iranian intelligence cells within the country which have attempted to abduct dissidents.

Mossad apparently remains, however, the most prominent agency to have infiltrated Turkiye until now.

Middle East Monitor / ABC Flash Point News 2023.