Turkey on Friday detained a lawyer and a private detective accused of supplying information to operatives working for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, the state-run Anadolu news agency reported, citing security sources.
The National Intelligence Organization (MİT), the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the city’s counterterrorism police carried out the coordinated operation, Anadolu said. Tuğrulhan Dip, a lawyer, and Serkan Çiçek, a private detective, were taken into custody as part of a probe authorities have code-named “Metron Activity.”
According to Anadolu, Çiçek admitted to conducting surveillance in İstanbul on a Palestinian activist at the direction of Faysal Rasheed, whom Turkish officials identified as a member of an Israeli online operations unit. Security sources said Çiçek was paid in cryptocurrency for some tasks.
Anadolu said Dip ran an illegal query system that gave him access to public records and that he sold personal data to Çiçek and other private detectives for financial gain. The agency named one of those detectives as Musa Kuş, who was earlier convicted and sentenced to 19 years in prison on spying charges.
Searches were carried out at three addresses linked to Çiçek, including a law office, Anadolu reported. The prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation, and authorities said the inquiry remains active.