A man, his wife, stepdaughter and four others face prison terms of up to 22 years for secretly working for Israel’s Mossad, gathering intelligence on the latter’s targets, the Sabah newspaper reported on Monday.
The suspects were captured in an operation last April in Istanbul. They were among eight arrested following a surveillance operation by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
Ahmet Ersin Tumlucalı, owner of an insurance company, is accused of leading a network of operatives working for Mossad, according to the indictment by Turkish prosecutors. His wife and stepdaughter are accused of obtaining confidential information for political or military espionage.
The indictment says the suspects worked for a unit of Mossad in charge of “online operations” and were primarily tasked with photo surveillance of Mossad’s targets in Türkiye, as well as obtaining personal information about those targets. “It is understood that the suspects were engaged in acts of obtaining information about foreigners in the country, particularly those who fled their home countries due to conflicts and shared this intelligence with (Mossad),” the indictment says.
Tumlucalı was in touch with an Israeli intelligence officer codenamed "Jorg," who introduced himself to him as a lawyer’s assistant. They were engaged in talk over email and Skype. Tumlucalı was also in contact with a suspect named Gavin Alfron, who was working for Israeli intelligence. The indictment says Mossad handed over several tasks to Tumlucalı for a “trial period” before hiring him.
“Jorg” and Tumlucalı met in Vienna and Munich in 2011 and 2017. Tumlucalı later met Gavin in Vienna and Frankfurt in 2017. They continued their meetings until 2020, when Mossad apparently terminated his contract. Tumlucalı tried to contact them again, up until 2022, to no avail, prosecutors say.
He is charged with running surveillance and pursuit operations against Mossad’s targets in Türkiye, Georgia and Germany, as well as obtaining “some official documents from Lebanon” and delivering them to the Israelis. He also ran surveillance on a Lebanese national during a trip to that country and followed the target on a flight to Istanbul. He followed him to his residence in Istanbul, taking photos of every movement of the target.
Prosecutors say Tumlucalı ran surveillance on behalf of Mossad on Jordanian, Syrian and Azerbaijani nationals, and in all his operations, he received assistance from his wife Benan, stepdaughter Dila Sultan Şimşek and his sister-in-law Berna Çetin, as well as from three other suspects in the case.
His wife, Benan, at times delivered surveillance reports to “Jorg” and Gavin, while another suspect helped them to obtain information from public institutions in Türkiye.
Tumlucalı was aided by an individual named Andy Grutko, a resident of Switzerland, for his activities in Germany, prosecutors say, adding that he was paid by Mossad operatives either in cash at their meetings in Europe or through wire transfers via Western Union. The indictment notes numerous money transfers to Tumlucalı’s bank account from multiple bank accounts linked to Israeli intelligence. Between 2014 and 2019, transfers were carried through his wife’s bank account. In one case, Tumlucalı was paid 300,000 euros, the indictment says.
The suspects are scheduled to appear before a Turkish court in the coming days.
Mossad is known to hire locals to run surveillance on its targets in Türkiye, particularly Palestinians. Earlier operations and investigations have uncovered several people, including foreigners on residence permits, private investigators and former police officers spying on Mossad’s targets.
As the Palestinian-Israeli conflict raged on, Türkiye uncovered several networks operated by Mossad in the country. Dozens were detained or arrested on charges of having ties to Mossad and running espionage rings for Mossad operatives. Their primary targets have been Palestinians living in Türkiye or visiting the country, particularly those linked to Hamas. Türkiye views Hamas as a resistance group, while Israel brands them as terrorists. The latest round of the Palestine-Israel conflict led to a deterioration of ties between Türkiye and Israel, which were just about to normalize strained relations. Türkiye fiercely defended the rights of Palestinians targeted by Israel in the Gaza Strip and often hosted prominent Hamas figures, including late leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in July 2024.
