Pictures of the fifteen alleged spies
Pictures of the fifteen alleged spiesTurkish media

Turkish media have published the pictures of 15 men, allegedly part of a Mossad network, who were captured and imprisoned three weeks ago in Turkey and accused of spying on Palestinians living in Turkey on behalf of the Israeli Mossad.

According to an article in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper, all 15 men are of Arab extraction and worked for a Mossad handler in Germany who went by the name of AZ. The 15 men allegedly belonged to three different cells of five men each, working separately.

The most senior of the alleged operatives is known as MAS, who was learning in the University of Konya in Turkey. Another senior operative among the 15 was known as AB, who is suspected of having transferred funds from the Mossad to its agents in Turkey, and of sending information back to the spy agency.

Last Friday, it was reported that all 15 men admitted during interrogation that they had indeed been spying for the Mossad, focusing their attention on anti-Israel activists in Turkey, both Turkish nationals and foreigners.

The men were arrested on October 7, at the conclusion of a year-long operation conducted by Turkish intelligence (MIT). Turkish investigators allegedly uncovered evidence of the Mossad paying its agents via Bitcoin and also via various jewelry stores through which funds were transferred. The operatives are suspected of having met with their handlers outside Turkey where they received instructions regarding who to spy on.