Turkish Court Imprisoned 37 People Accused Of Working For Israel's Mossad Intelligence Service

JAKARTA - Turkish authorities sentenced 37 people to prison on charges of working for Israeli intelligence and obtaining classified information for espionage purposes.

The 28th Criminal High Court in Istanbul announced a verdict for 56 defendants on charges of espionage on behalf of Israel's Mossad.

A.K.men. and A.E., two of the defendants, were sentenced to eight years and four months in prison, while 35 other defendants were sentenced to six years and eight months, quoted from the Daily Sabah September 19.

Previously, only the AKmen and AE were imprisoned. While the others were released while waiting for the trial.

The court reduced the initial prison sentence of 10 years for the two defendants. The defendants are accused of working for Mossad to help spy agencies send money to their operators and carry out "thitual work" for Mossad targets.

Earlier this week, a Turkish prosecutor demanded a total of 45 years in prison for 20 suspects, who were charged with spying on Palestinian citizens and people linked to the Hamas targets of Mossad.

Public prosecutors in Istanbul filed a lawsuit on Monday against about 20 suspects, 16 of whom were detained, on charges of international espionage and transferring intelligence about foreign nationals living in Turkey to Mossad's online operations unit.

The prosecution's indictment said the defendants confiscated personal information, including addresses and records, Palestinian citizens and people linked to Hamas, the Palestinian resistance group that controls the trapped Gaza Strip, in T\"urkiye on behalf of Mossad.

Israeli intelligence agency units "take advantage of" the suspects to obtain information sources remotely, monitor their targets, including taking photos and videos, as well as other tactical tasks such as following, attacking, robbing, or kidnapping, according to the indictment.

"The suspects in particular are trying to find a place or address where people targeted by Israel gather or live in Turkey," he said.

Diketehui, along with the outbreak of the Hamas-Israeli conflict in Gaza, Turkey has uncovered several networks operated by Mossad in the country.