International Desk: A case has been filed against seven people in Turkey on charges of spying for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. The prosecutor of Istanbul has asked for a 45-year prison sentence for each of them.

Local time on Thursday (November 28) Istanbul's public prosecutor filed a case against the seven on charges of 'persistent political or military espionage'.

According to the indictment, the suspect sold information to Mossad agents to Hamza Turhan Aybark, Funda Kadayifaoglu, Erkan Kama, Omar Burak Gezer, Ismail Kaya, Mehmet Yetimova and Ozkan Sahin. They have to suffer 18 to 45 years of imprisonment for this.

The investigation showed that Aybark first contacted a member of the Israeli intelligence agency named 'Victoria' in 2019. He met Victoria in person in Belgrade, Serbia in 2019. During this time he was introduced to two other Mossad agents.

According to the indictment, Aybark was directed by the Mossad to investigate individuals and companies it deemed a threat to Israel's foreign policy and national interests.

Another Mossad agent named 'Mark' urged Aybark to find connections between Dubai, Iraq and South Africa. It was ordered to obtain information and documents about certain persons concerned. In return he was paid a large sum of money in cryptocurrency.

According to the complaint, Aybark had a total of 98 accounts, of which 63 were active in Turkish banks. These accounts saw a total of over 118,000 USD transactions between 2019-2023.

The suspect himself admitted to meeting Victoria. Aybark also confirmed, he asked the Mossad to pay in Bitcoin to avoid legal recourse.

As the Palestinian-Israeli conflict escalated, Türkiye discovered several Mossad-run networks in the country. Since last January, authorities have arrested dozens of people suspected of having ties to Israel's Mossad. A case has been filed against them. Charges were framed against six people last March.

They have been accused of recruiting Turkish citizens and other nationalities living in the country to spy on Palestinians, particularly those linked to the resistance group Hamas.

The Mossad has also reportedly recruited Palestinian and Syrian nationals in Turkey as part of its crackdown on foreigners living in Turkey.