15 suspects arrested for alleged espionage on behalf of Israel

The suspects, who were captured in an operation centered in Istanbul and spanning 8 provinces and had their statements taken at the police station for 4 days, were sent to the Istanbul Courthouse in Çağlayan following health checks.

Of the 34 suspects identified as operating on behalf of the Israeli Online Operations Unit, 26 were referred to the duty magistrate judge with a request for their arrest on charges of "political or military espionage."

The court decided to arrest 15 of the suspects and imposed judicial control measures on 11 others.

It was learned that 8 suspects were handed over to the Provincial Directorate of Migration Management for deportation.

SIMULTANEOUS OPERATION CONDUCTED AT 57 ADDRESSES

Within the scope of activities by the Istanbul Counter-Terrorism Branch, and based on work conducted by the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and the Intelligence Branch, information had been obtained that the Israeli foreign intelligence service Mossad aimed to carry out reconnaissance, surveillance, assault, and abduction operations targeting foreign nationals residing in Turkey for humanitarian reasons.

It was also revealed that Mossad officials, who established contact with the suspects via social media, had obtained information on certain individuals.

Upon the assessment that these activities could fall under the scope of "international espionage," security forces took action to apprehend 46 suspects, capturing 34 of them in a simultaneous operation conducted on January 2 at 57 addresses identified in 15 districts of Istanbul, as well as in Ankara, Kocaeli, Hatay, Mersin, İzmir, Van, and Diyarbakır.

During searches conducted at the addresses, 143 thousand 830 euros, 23 thousand 680 dollars, various amounts of cash from different countries, an unlicensed pistol, a large number of cartridges, and digital materials were seized.