ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish security forces on Friday detained seven people for allegedly selling information to Israel’s spy agency Mossad, state media reported.
Security and intelligence forces carried out joint operations in Istanbul against people accused of spying for Israel, Anadolu Agency reported, citing unnamed Turkish security sources.
Istanbul’s Chief Public Prosecutor's Office alleged that nine suspects sold information to Mossad. During the operations on Friday, seven of the nine were detained. The other two had been arrested earlier, according to Anadolu’s sources.
Turkey and Israel have been trading barbs since October when Palestinian Hamas attacked Israel, killing over 1,000 people, mostly civilians.
Unlike most Western countries and some Arabic states, Ankara does not recognize Hamas as a terrorist organisation and has repeatedly blasted Israel for its relentless and deadly attacks on the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 27,000 people since October, mostly women and children.
Turkish security forces last month detained 33 people for allegedly spying for Mossad.
