A Turkish court on Wednesday handed down prison sentences for 37 defendants accused of working for Israeli intelligence and obtaining confidential information for espionage.
The 28th High Criminal Court in Istanbul announced verdicts for 56 defendants tried on espionage on behalf of Israel’s Mossad. A.K.Ö. and A.E., two among the defendants, were sentenced to eight years and four months in prison, while 35 other defendants were sentenced to six years and eight months.
A.K.Ö. and A.E. were the only imprisoned defendants, while others were released pending trial. A.K.Ö. is a retired police officer and was detained last year along with other defendants, including foreign nationals. The court reduced the initial prison term of 10 years for two defendants.
The defendants were accused of working for Mossad to help espionage institutions wire money to its operatives and doing "tactical work" for Mossad’s targets.
Earlier this week, a Turkish prosecutor was seeking a total of 45 years in prison for 20 suspects, who are charged with spying on Palestinian nationals and Hamas-linked people targeted by Mossad. The public prosecutor in Istanbul filed a lawsuit on Monday against some 20 suspects, 16 of whom are under arrest, on charges of committing "international espionage" and transferring intelligence on foreign nationals living in Türkiye to a Mossad unit of online operations. The prosecutor’s indictment said the defendants seized private information, including addresses and footage, of Palestinian citizens and people linked to Hamas, a Palestinian resistance group ruling the besieged Gaza Strip, in Türkiye on behalf of Mossad. The Israeli agency unit "utilized" the suspects for remotely obtaining sources, surveilling its targets, including taking photographs and videos, as well as other tactical jobs such as following, battery, robbery or kidnapping, according to the indictment. The suspects especially tried to discover places or addresses where people targeted by Israel gather or live in Türkiye, it said.
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.