Suspect arrested in Turkey for allegedly transferring money to Mossad operatives, report says
People wave Turkish and Palestinian flags during a pro-Palestinian protest in Istanbul, Turkey, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024. Turkish officials have detained a man believed to be overseeing the financial operations of the Israeli intelligence agency in Turkey, according to a report by the state-run news agency on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Francisco Seco
ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish police have arrested a suspect believed to have been transferring money to operatives from Israel's Mossad intelligence agency in Turkey, the state-run news agency reported Tuesday.
The suspect, identified as Liridon Rexhepi from Kosovo, entered Turkey on Aug. 25, and was detained last Friday and formally arrested on Tuesday, the Anadolu Agency said. The report said he had confessed during interrogation that he conducted the money transfers.
Since January, Turkish authorities have detained dozens of people, among them private investigators, on charges of collecting data on individuals, mostly Palestinians residing in Turkey, for the Israeli intelligence.
Israel has not commented on the arrests in Turkey.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been one of the strongest critics of Israel’s military actions there and has praised Palestinian Hamas militants as a liberation group.
In May, Turkey halted all trade with Israel and has also applied to participate in a genocide case against Israel at an international court.
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