Prison sentences issued against 16 accused of spying for Israel in Turkiye

The logo of Turkish Court of Accounts is seen at the entrance of Turkish Court of Accounts building in Ankara, Turkiye on August 29, 2023 [Osmancan Gürdoğan – Anadolu Agency]

A Turkish court yesterday sentenced 16 defendants to prison for spying for the Israeli intelligence agency, Mossad, with the network’s leader, Selcuk Kucukkaya, receiving a 26-year prison term.

The 30th Criminal Court in Istanbul sentenced Kucukkaya to 15 years in prison on charges of “political and military espionage,” six years and eight months on charges of incitement, and five years for illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data.

The court sentenced the defendants Cenk Birturk, Fatma Birturk and Musa Kus to 18 years and four months in prison for the same crimes, while the accused Emre Birturk was sentenced to eight years and nine months in prison on charges of illegally obtaining or disseminating personal data.

The other 11 defendants were sentenced to six years and three months for aiding in political and military espionage. The case of Serkan Ozdemirci has been separated from the others as he remains at large.

Travel bans were issued against five of the convicted defendants, while judicial oversight procedures are being carried out on the remaining defendants.

Kucukkaya, who has been detained since May, headed a team consisting of approximately 15 people to monitor and collect information about Arab and Iranian companies and individuals, on direct orders from the Israeli Mossad. He admitted meeting with Mossad leaders 11 times in different European cities.

Months ago, the Turkish newspaper Daily Sabah published confessions by Kucukkaya in which he revealed how he was recruited by Mossad and assigned missions to follow Arab and foreign figures residing in Turkiye.

Kucukkaya explained in his confessions that he prepared the reports in exchange for money, and he was contacted by a former army member, Serkan Ozdemirci, who was dismissed from the Turkish Armed Forces and is wanted in Turkiye on charges of joining a banned group. He is currently a fugitive outside the country.

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