Türkiye detains two suspects over Mossad espionage

Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has detained two individuals in Istanbul on suspicion of working for Israel’s intelligence service, Mossad, security sources said Friday.

The arrests were carried out in a joint operation involving Istanbul police and judicial authorities, News.Az reports, citing Daily Sabah.

The suspects, identified as Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoğlu, are accused of spying for Mossad and transferring information over an extended period.

They had reportedly been under MIT surveillance for some time before being apprehended in an operation codenamed the “MONITUM Activity.”

According to security sources, Derya, a mining engineer, founded a company in 2005 and opened a marble quarry in the Silifke district of southern Mersin province, later exporting products to multiple countries. His international trade activities drew the attention of Mossad, which allegedly established contact with him through an individual operating under the code name “Ali Ahmed Yassin,” described as a representative of a front company set up by Israeli intelligence.

Sources said Yassin visited Derya in 2012, presenting a potential business opportunity and inviting him to a meeting with company executives in Europe. Derya allegedly traveled abroad in 2013, where he met with individuals posing as company owners but later identified as members of Israeli intelligence.

Investigators said that during these meetings, Derya was instructed to hire Kerimoğlu, a Turkish citizen of Palestinian origin, and report back on their joint activities. Authorities said Derya complied with the directive, hiring Kerimoğlu and maintaining close personal and professional ties with him, while allegedly receiving instructions and even salary payments for Kerimoğlu from intelligence operatives.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev