A Turkish prosecutor is seeking up to 45 years in prison each for seven suspects charged with spying on people targeted by the Israeli agency Mossad.
The public prosecutor in Istanbul filed a lawsuit on Thursday against seven suspects on charges of committing “sequential political or military espionage.”
The suspects, Hamza Turhan Ayberk, Funda Kadayıfçıoğlu, Ercan Kama, Ömer Burak Gezer, Ismail Kaya, Mehmet Yetimova and Özkan Şahin, are facing 18 to 45-year sentences each for selling information to Mossad agents, the indictment said.
Investigations have found Ayberk, a private detective, was first approached in 2019 by an Israeli intelligence operative code-named “Victoria.”
Ayberk held an in-person meeting with Victoria in Belgrade in 2019 who introduced him to two other Mossad agents code-named “Robert” and “Andrea.”
Ayberk was then instructed to investigate individuals and companies that Mossad perceived as threats against Israel’s foreign policy and national interests, the indictment revealed.
Another Mossad operative code-named “Marc” urged Ayberk to find connections in Dubai, Iraq and South Africa where the suspect was ordered to obtain information and documents about certain individuals and paid a large amount in cryptocurrency.
Ayberk later asked other suspects for help in his activities.
According to the indictment, Ayberk had a total of 98 accounts, 63 of which were active, in Turkish banks. These accounts saw money transfers of in total of TL 4,126,628 ($118,956) between 2019-2023.
Missions assigned to Ayberk are of espionage in nature rather than simple tasks, the indictment said.
The suspect himself confessed to meeting Victoria, doing “a couple of jobs” for her before he insisted on meeting in person and agreeing to take on further tasks, namely investigations in Istanbul and across Türkiye in general.
Ayberk also confirmed he asked for his payments to be made in Bitcoin to avoid a legal trail.
As the Palestinian-Israeli conflict rages on, Türkiye has uncovered several networks operated by Mossad in the country.
Since January, authorities have detained or arrested and charged dozens of people suspected of having ties to Israel’s Mossad. Six people were charged in March.
They are accused of recruiting Turkish nationals and people of other nationalities living in the country to spy on Palestinians, particularly people associated with the resistance group Hamas.
Mossad is said to have also recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals in Türkiye as part of an operation against foreigners living in Türkiye.
Türkiye and Israel resumed frozen relations last year after years of tensions due to Israel’s acts of aggression targeting Palestinians. Yet, ties deteriorated again after Oct. 7, the start of the new round of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Ankara is one of the strongest critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.