In a move apparently intended to harm Israel, the Turkish government in 2012 blew the cover of several Iranian intelligence assets who had secretly been meeting with Mossad handlers in Turkey, the Washington Post reported Thursday.
According to “knowledgeable sources,” the “deliberate compromise” of Israel’s agents by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo?an’s government constituted a “significant” loss of intelligence and can be interpreted as “an effort to slap the Israelis,” the Post reported.
Ankara disclosed to Tehran’s intelligence organization the identities of “up to 10 Iranians who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers,” the paper’s senior columnist David Ignatius wrote.
In Jerusalem Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report.
Ankara’s action might have been a factor in Israel’s staunch refusal, until March, to apologize to Turkey over the 2010 Gaza flotilla incident, in which clashes between pro-Palestinian activists and IDF troops aboard the Mavi Marmara ship resulted in the deaths of nine Turkish citizens. Only on March 22 this year, at the personal behest of US President Barack Obama, who was ending a visit to Israel, did Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak by phone with Erdogan to apologize for “operational mistakes” and pledge to compensate the families of those killed. In turn, Erdo?an agreed to restore warm diplomatic ties with Israel.
But since then, Ankara has dragged its feet and not taken the hoped-for steps to normalize relations, leading former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman, among others, to call Netanyahu’s move a grave error.
US officials are not certain whether Ankara’s deliberating compromising of Israel’s agents was an act of direct retaliation for the Mavi Marmara affair or part of the broader deterioration of ties, Ignatius wrote. He added that American intelligence officers assess the failure as a consequence of “misplaced trust” on the part of the Israelis.
The head of Turkey’s governmental intelligence agency, Hakan Fidan — a key Erdo?an confidant — is “suspect in Israel because of what are seen as friendly links with Tehran,” according to Ignatius.
Israeli and Turkish intelligence agencies had generally enjoyed close cooperation since the late 1950s.
Raphael Ahren is the diplomatic correspondent at The Times of Israel.
Soon or later he will pay for this. The Kurds need to unite and create their own country.
Please release my #11 from moderation.
Quite apart from Turkey’s animus towards Israel, why does Obama continue to call Erdogan/Turkey his good friend and best ally in the Mid East given that Erdogan, in spite of his Western façade in dress, manner and expression, is an Islamist through and through?
Perhaps Obama sees in Erdogan, a strong leader that in spite of his objectionable Islamism, has enough of a good relationship with him that Erdogan is prepared to use his influence to help stabilize things in the region, which would be a boon to the U.S.
I am interested in serious suggested explanations.
Please don’t be facile and offer that Obama is a secret closet member of the MB or other kind of Islamist who has found Erdogan a kindred spirit. To accuse Obama of that suspicion going around, one needs smoking gun evidence and it just is not available.
@ Eric R.:
I absolutely agree with arming the Kurds.
Eric R. Said:
I believe the Kurds have always een Israe and the USA best alliance. Why they have been ignored for so long is a puzzle. Some of the probem I can be attributed to Obama’s pander after the Muslim Brotherhood.
Laura Said:
Sultan Erdogan has emasculated the Turkish military, so that Israel’s only option here is to arm Turkey’s Kurds.
I agree with Laura – the sooner he is removed the better
He even looks like Hitler
For as long as the Netanyahu garbage remain in control aided by Peresites, we are going to be trounced by everyone. Iran will have or has already nuclear weapons. Turkey could care less about tacit this or that and so is the rest of the world.
Getting Netanyahu and Livni and Lapid and all, routed out, is urgent… Soon will be too late.
@ Laura:
GET A ROPE
Israel should have orchestrated a coup against that Jew-hating, islamic supremacist skunk erdogan from the beginning of his regime.
Shy Guy Said:
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Dhimmi Netanyahu to concede that Israeli apology to Turkey should never have been issued in the first place.
Shy Guy Said:
That my mer Mr Guy no longer exist.
I commented as follows on INN:
In a normal world…
A country who is a NATO member and caused this much intentional damage to the supposed western alliance would be considered belligerent and tossed out for such blatantly traitorous acts, treasonous to the cause – certainly to America’s. Don’t hold your breath.