Turkish security sources on Tuesday said Liridon Rexhepi, identified as manager of Mossad's financial network in Türkiye, was arrested by Istanbul police.
Rexhepi, a Kosovan national, was transferring money to Mossad’s field agents in Türkiye who filmed Mossad targets with drones, led psychological operations against Palestinian politicians and gathered intelligence about the Syrian field, sources said.
The Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) discovered Rexhepi after detecting irregularities in his financial accounts, which showed him making countless deposits to Mossad operatives in Türkiye through Western Union.
He was placed under MIT surveillance as soon as he entered Türkiye on Aug. 25, 2024, and detained in Istanbul on Aug. 30 in a joint operation with the Istanbul police and formally arrested on Tuesday.
Sources said he had confessed during interrogation that he conducted the money transfers.
MIT operations so far have revealed Mossad’s field agents in Türkiye facilitate their money transactions through Eastern European countries, especially Kosovo. The Mossad spies also transfer the funds coming from Kosovo to their sources in Syria whom they pay with cryptocurrency, sources said.
Rexhepi is the first high-profile Mossad operative arrested in Türkiye this year as it ramped up operations targeting alleged Mossad members inside the country.
Since January, Turkish authorities have detained or arrested and charged dozens of people suspected of having ties to Israel’s Mossad, most of whom were Turkish nationals. Seven suspects were detained in January, six people were charged in March and two others were arrested in April.
Israel has not commented on the arrests in Türkiye.
Ankara is concerned Mossad is recruiting operatives on Turkish territory to target foreign nationals, with media reports saying certain Hamas members are in the country. Türkiye maintains links with the Hamas movement and rejects classifying Hamas as terrorists, unlike European countries and the United States.
At the time, Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said most of the suspects were charged with committing "political or military espionage" on behalf of Israeli intelligence.
Mossad is said to have also recruited Palestinians and Syrian nationals in Türkiye as part of an operation against foreigners living in Türkiye.
Following the Jan. 2 arrests, Anadolu Agency (AA) cited a prosecution document as saying the operation targeted "Palestinian nationals and their families ... within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Türkiye and Israel resumed frozen relations last year after years of tensions due to Israel's acts of aggression targeting Palestinians. Yet, ties deteriorated again after Oct. 7, the start of the new round of the Palestine-Israel conflict. Ankara is one of the strongest critics of Israel's military actions in Gaza.
The head of Israel's domestic Shin Bet security agency said in December that his organization was prepared to target Hamas anywhere, including in Lebanon, Türkiye and Qatar.
Turkish and Israeli leaders have traded public barbs since Israel's war on the Palestinian resistance group Hamas began in October.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan warned Israel of "serious consequences" if Israel pressed ahead with its threat to attack Hamas officials on Turkish soil.
