Fifteen Arabs who allegedly worked for Israel’s Mossad were arrested by Turkish authorities earlier this month, Turkish media reports said on Thursday.

The year-long operation, carried out by 200 agents from Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT), exposed a network of Mossad agents involved in gathering intelligence for the Mossad, including tracking Palestinian and Syrian students studying in Turkish universities as well as monitoring Palestinian organizations and Hamas operatives in the country. The spies, who operated through the country, in four provinces, also evaluated university students as potential Mossad agents after their graduation.

Reports said that the Mossad agents, who operated in five cells of three agents each, met with their Mossad handlers in countries outside Turkey to receive their orders and exchange information, including Switzerland, Croatia, Romania and Kenya.

#SONDAKİKA
İsrail adına casusluk yapan 15 kişilik şebeke çökertildi. Casuslar, özellikle Türkiye'deki Filistinli ve Suriyeli öğrenciler hakkında bilgi topluyordu. MİT'in MOSSAD ajanlarına yönelik operasyonuna dair detaylar @trthaber'de.https://t.co/NXsUuwAm2t pic.twitter.com/8uzrcuTHz6

— TRT Haber Canlı (@trthabercanli) October 21, 2021

“One of the spies, A.B., was one of the most important members of the network and was entrusted with investigating the conditions of Palestinians living in Turkey. He acted as a courier for payments and was reported missing in Istanbul’s Maltepe district in June 2021 in an effot to mislead security forces but MIT was already carrying out surveillance on the cells at the time,” a Daily Saban report stated.

The Mossad paid the agents, some of whom are Turkish citizens and some foreigners, via money transfers from Western Union and Moneygram, and sometimes via Bitcoin.

The Turkish government has not commented on the reports.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)