Two people suspected of spying for the Israeli intelligence service Mossad were detained in a joint operation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and Istanbul police, Turkish authorities said Friday.

Since January, Turkish authorities have detained or arrested and charged dozens of people suspected of having ties to Israel's Mossad intelligence agency. Six people were charged last month.

Turkish and Israeli leaders have traded public barbs since Israel's war on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas began in October. Türkiye has warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it tries to hunt down Hamas members living outside the Palestinian territories, including in Türkiye.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said on X police had detained eight people believed to be collecting and selling information to Mossad about targeted individuals and companies in Türkiye. Of those, two had been arrested and six released on parole, he said.

"We will never allow espionage activities that are carried out within our country's borders against our people's national unity and solidarity. We are in pursuit," he said.

A Turkish security official said the raids, carried out in Istanbul, targeted, Ahmet Ersin Tumlucalı, a Turkish private detective, and his wife who were believed to have been involved with Mossad from 2011-2020.

The official said Tumlucalı regularly met in person with two Mossad operatives, codenamed "Jorg Neubach" and "Gavin Alto," in Vienna, Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt and Berlin, and used private communication channels to keep in touch with them.

The detective "earned significant income" from this and formed a network of nine people, the official said. Members of the network had confessed and the detective and his wife had been arrested, the person added.

Under Mossad’s instructions, Tumlucalı conducted research and reconnaissance on the agency’s targets he followed in Türkiye, as well as Georgia, Germany and Middle Eastern countries. He supplied Mossad with official documents of commercial taxis, trucks and lorries from Middle Eastern countries to be used in its operations.

According to the official, Tumlucalı was initially suspicious of Neubach when he first contacted him, saying he lived in Austria but not knowing any German. Neubach told Tumlucalı he could meet him in Vienna, Zurich, Berlin or Athens but couldn’t come to Istanbul, stoking Tumlucalı’s suspicion.

To his first meeting with Neubach in Vienna, Tumlucalı brought with him a book he bought in Türkiye about Mossad. When he asked Neubach whether he served the Israeli intelligence, Neubach laughed it off and refused to answer.

Tumlucalı, however, continued working for Neubach and Alto for nearly nine years despite knowing they were Mossad agents and even went on to set up a spy cell of nine people to comply with the agency’s instructions.

Evidence obtained from Tumlucalı’s phone shows he and his team, under direct orders from Alto, often tracked Middle Eastern nationals who came to Türkiye via Istanbul Airport, took their pictures on their way to hotels and apartments for "investigations reports" forwarded to Mossad via online communication platforms.

There was no immediate comment from Israel.

Mossad activity in Türkiye

Türkiye has recently ramped up targeting alleged Mossad members inside the country.

Ankara is concerned Mossad is recruiting operatives on Turkish territory to target foreign nationals, with media reports saying certain Hamas members are in the country. Türkiye maintains links with the Hamas movement and rejects classifying Hamas as terrorists, unlike European countries and the United States.

In February, more private detectives were arrested on similar suspicions. And in early January, 34 people were also detained by Turkish police for allegedly spying for Israel. The suspects arrested in January have been accused of planning to carry out activities that included reconnaissance and "pursuing, assaulting and kidnapping" foreign nationals living in Türkiye.

At the time, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said most of the suspects were charged with committing "political or military espionage" on behalf of Israeli intelligence.

Mossad is said to have also recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals in Türkiye as part of an operation against foreigners living in Türkiye.

Following the Jan. 2 arrests, Anadolu Agency (AA) cited a prosecution document as saying the operation targeted "Palestinian nationals and their families ... within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

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 Palestine-Israel conflict. Ankara is one of the strongest critics of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

The head of Israel’s domestic Shin Bet security agency said in December that his organization was prepared to target Hamas anywhere, including in Lebanon, Türkiye and Qatar.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Israel of "serious consequences" if Israel pressed ahead with its threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil.

In December 2022, MIT detained 68 suspects in an operation targeting private detectives and technical operatives working for Mossad.