ANKARA, Turkey
Turkish Interior Minister, Ali Yerlikaya, on Tuesday said that 33 people have been arrested for spying for Israil in a major operation. “We will never allow espionage activities against the national unity and solidarity of our country,” Yerlikaya said.
The operation was jointly run
by the Turkish Police and National Intelligence Agency, MIT, in eight
provinces.
Yerlikaya said the operation
was conducted “after it was determined that the Israeli intelligence service
[Mossad] aimed to carry out tactical activities such as reconnaissance,
pursuit, assault and kidnapping against foreign nationals residing in our country”.
During the operation, 143,830
euros and 23,680 US dollars in cash were seized in addition to weapons, bullets
and digital materials.
Israel’s military operation in
Gaza against Hamas, which has reportedly killed over 22,000 people, remains a
major domestic issue in Turkey.
A court on January 1 arrested
university student Ege Akersoy for punching a man who carried a “Tajweed” flag
associated with jihadists who was returning from a Free Palestine march in
Istanbul organised by the pro-government Turkish Youth Foundation, TUGVA – an
Islamist NGO run by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s family.
The flag is used by Islamist
jihadists as well as those who call for the restoration of a caliphate – an
Islamic polity ruled by a caliph.
Akersoy was arrested for
punching the man but others who attacked the student in front of police walked
free.
At another event, Islamist
groups called for the restoration of a caliphate, claiming that “the salvation
of the Palestine can only be with the Caliphate,”. The caliphate has became a
major topic in social media, further polarising Turkish society.
The Istanbul Bar Association
called on the authorities on Tuesday to start legal proceedings against those
who call for the restoration of the caliphate. “None of the rights and freedoms
included in the Constitution can be used in activities aimed at eliminating the
democratic and secular republic,” the Association said in a statement.
The last Caliph was Abdulmecid
Efendi, a prince of the Ottoman dynasty. The Caliphate was abolished in 1924
after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk founded Turkey’s modern secular republic.
Turkey has accused Israel of
genocide against Palestines since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7 and since
Israeli striikes killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. While many Western
countries designate Hamas a terrorist organisation, President Erdogan has
defined it as a group of “freedom fighters”.
According to the
Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in Gaza on Tuesday, at least 22,185
Palestinians including women and children have been killed in Israeli attacks
since October 7. The death toll on the Israeli side stood at 1,400.
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