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In a joint operation of Turkish Police and the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) 44 people, members of a local consultancy firm, were arrested.
The suspects have allegedly received funds from Israel's Mossad to spy on Palestinian expatriates and other non-governmental organizations, this according to Turkish newspaper "Daily Sabah".
For a while now, the suspects were believed to have been offering private investigation services through their Mossad contacts. Thus far, seven our of the 44 men, have been brought up on charges, while Turkish authorities have launched an operation to apprehend 13 others believed to be involved, one of whom works as a University lecturer, according to the report.
This revelation comes amid seemingly improved relations between Israel and Turkey, with an agreement that both Mossad and MIT would willingly share information that would allow Tel Aviv to track Iranian cells inside Turkey.
In the past year, MIT exposed several espionage rings including 15 people studying in local universities, arrested by Turkish counterterrorism forces and identified as possible recruits for Mossad.
Another plot exposed by MIT involved Iranians believed to have been planning an assassination of Israelis visiting Turkey,
Hussein Tayeb, head of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps Intelligence Organization, has been identified at the time by MIT and Mossad as leading the effort to target Israelis in Turkey.