Turkey arrests (another) Israeli bird for spying

10 August 2016, 5:23 pm

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A Turkish farmer comes across a kestrel with a tag from the University of Tel Aviv on its leg and comes to the conclusion that it is an Israeli spy, Yedioth Ahronoth reports.

He calls in Turkish intelligence officials, who catch the bird and inspect it, ultimately determining that it is not connected to Israeli spying efforts, but rather an innocent animal that has apparently lost its way. The kestel is then released back into the wild.

A Turkish newspaper article from July 2016 reporting on the capture of a suspected avian spy for Israel. (screen capture)

The incident, which took place last month, is given widespread coverage in the Turkish media, which runs images of the bird after it was trapped.

This is not the first time that Turkey believed it exposed Israeli avian espionage. An almost identical incident took place in 2013, when Turkish authorities X-rayed a kestrel that had also a tag from Tel Aviv.