• Suspects had passed on information to Mossad for money, according to officials

ISTANBUL: Turkiye on Tuesday said it had detained seven people, including a special detective, suspected of spying for Israel’s Mossad intelligence service.

The operation by Turkiye’s spy agency and Istanbul counter-terror police showed the suspects had passed on information to Mossad for money, the Anadolu state news agency reported.

The raids come after Turkish authorities rounded up 34 people in January suspected of planning abductions and spying for Mossad.

Istanbul prosecutors had then said 12 other suspects remained at large.

Relations between Turkiye and Israel imploded after the outbreak of the war in Gaza nearly five months ago.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has turned into one of the world’s harshest critics of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has compared Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler and asked Israel’s Western allies to drop their support for the “state terrorism” being conducted in Gaza.

After the January arrest, Erdogan said the Turkish operation “seriously disturbed” Israel.

“Wait a minute,” he said, referring to the Israeli authorities. “You will get to know Turkiye.”

AFP