Turkish authorities have detained 34 people suspected of being linked to Israel's Mossad intelligence service and of targeting Palestinians living in Turkey, a senior Turkish official said on Tuesday, adding Mossad also recruited members in the country, Reuters reports.
Last month, Turkish officials warned Israel of "serious consequences" if it tried to hunt down members of the militant group Hamas living outside Palestinian territories, including in Turkey. President Tayyip Erdogan warned that would be a mistake.
Asked about the arrests, Israeli Prime Minister's Office and the Foreign Ministry did not immediately comment.
The official said police raided locations in eight provinces as part of an investigation carried out by the MIT intelligence agency and the Istanbul prosecutor's counter-terrorism bureau.
"It uses intermediaries/live couriers for payments to be made to its contacts. It tries to lose trace of the money by using cryptocurrency and a (money) transfer system," the person said, adding Turkey's operations against people linked to Mossad would continue.
