ISTANBUL — Turkish intelligence has arrested two people on suspicion of spying for Israel, state news agency Anadolu reported on Friday.The two suspects allegedly spied on Palestinians opposed to Israel’s Gaza war and potential trade networks connected to Middle Eastern countries.The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) detained two individuals on suspicion of working for the Jewish state’s intelligence service Mossad in a joint operation with the city police and judicial authorities, Turkish security sources said.They said Mehmet Budak Derya and Veysel Kerimoglu had been arrested in Istanbul, saying they been under MIT surveillance for some time before being apprehended.Derya, a mining engineer, allegedly first caught the attention of Mossad in 2005 when he opened a marble quarry near the southern coastal city of Mersin and began trading overseas. Mossad allegedly established contact with him through an individual operating under the code name Ali Ahmed Yassin in 2012. Investigators said Yassin, who ran an Israeli shell company, invited Derya for a business meeting in Europe in 2013 which is where he allegedly first met Mossad agents.During the meeting, they discussed the marble trade and suggested he hire a Turkish citizen of Palestinian origin called Veysel Kerimoglu.The men became friends and allegedly began sharing information with Mossad, which paid Kerimoglu’s salary.Security sources said that after hiring Kerimoğlu, Derya expanded commercial operations targeting Middle Eastern countries. Through Kerimoğlu, he allegedly developed social and business relations with Palestinians opposed to Israel’s policies toward Middle Eastern states, including Gaza, and shared information about these contacts with Israeli intelligence.Authorities said Derya also sought entry permits to Gaza by leveraging commercial links and allegedly transmitted photographs of storage facilities he searched for in the territory to Mossad operatives.In early 2016, Kerimoglu is alleged to have suggested to Derya to begin supplying drone parts, with the businessman making contact with Mohamed Zouari who was killed in Tunisia later that year, allegedly by Mossad, investigators said.Zouari, an engineer who specialized in drone development for the Palestinian Hamas movement, was gunned down in his car in the eastern city of Sfax in December 2016.Late last year, a Tunisian a court convicted 18 people in absentia over his murder.Derya is alleged to have used an encrypted communication system to send technical data to his handlers and underwent two lie detector tests in 2016 and 2024.He was arrested while trying to set up a company that would have overseen three Asian shell companies whose aim was allegedly to hide the origins of various products that would have been supplied to buyers on Mossad’s radar.The plan was allegedly discussed in detail at their last meeting in January.Both suspects are currently being questioned by police.Turkish intelligence, in recent years, has uncovered several spy networks operated by independent groups, terrorist organizations like Daesh, or foreign intelligence agencies in Turkey.According to Turkish security sources, Mossad often uses online communication applications to recruit operatives to spy on Palestinians and other foreign nationals living in Turkey. — Agencies
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