Turkey arrests 15 suspected of Mossad links
Turkish court on Friday mandated the formal arrest of 15 individuals and the deportation of eight others. These suspects reportedly have connections with Israel's Mossad intelligence service and allegedly targeted Palestinians in Turkey.
cumhuriyet.com.trThis ruling follows the detention earlier in the week of 34 people. Turkish authorities issued a stark warning to Israel against targeting Hamas members residing outside Palestinian territories, including those in Turkey.
The fate of the remaining 11 initially detained individuals remains unclear, as TRT Haber did not report on their status.
Contrary to many Western allies and some Arab nations, Turkey does not label Hamas as a terrorist group.
Turkish police, in collaboration with the MIT intelligence agency and the Istanbul prosecutor's counter-terrorism bureau, conducted coordinated raids across eight provinces to detain these suspects.
The backdrop to these arrests includes Turkey's vocal criticism of Israel's Gaza bombardment amid its conflict with Hamas. This criticism reached a peak last week with a public spat between Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.