Turkey arrests seven accused of selling info to Mossad

Turkish police have detained seven people, including a private detective, suspected of selling information to Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, Turkey’s state-owned Anadolu news agency says.

Anadolu cites security sources as saying the private detective, a former public servant, was suspected of gathering information on Middle Eastern companies and individuals in Turkey, placing tracking devices and engaging in surveillance.

The sources say the detentions are part of an operation carried out by Turkey’s national intelligence agency MIT and Istanbul counter-terror police.

Ankara makes no official statement on the operation. Israel does not immediately comment on the Anadolu report.

The Turkish detective was trained by the Mossad in the Serbian capital Belgrade and received payments in cryptocurrency that did not appear in official records, the sources say.

A Turkish court in January ordered the arrest of 15 people and the deportation of eight others suspected of having links to Mossad and targeting Palestinians living in Turkey, which has harbored senior members of the Hamas terror group.

In February, Turkey detained seven suspected of selling information to the Mossad.