Turkiye's MIT arrested three Syrians spying for France
Shafaq News/ Turkish National Intelligence Organization (MIT) arrested three Syrian nationals accused of working for the French intelligence.
The MIT operation, which recently uncovered espionage networks involving Israel, Iran, and Russia, targeted a ring linked to France's Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE).
According to The Daily Sabah Newspaper, Led by Syrian national Ahmet Katie, the ring supplied false information and papers to French intelligence, seeking to defame Turkiye over the alleged mistreatment of refugees.
The suspects, introduced to the Paris-based Collectif des Amis d'Alep through French intelligence, were promised asylum in France. They currently face imprisonment preceding their trial.
The counterespionage unit and the Istanbul branch of MIT had been conducting surveillance on the ring for months before Istanbul police launched the operation. The Newspaper said.
The suspects are accused of forging documents containing defamatory information against Turkey and supplying information to foreign intelligence services about Turkey's migration policies.
Daily Sabah explained that Ahmet Katie described as an Istanbul-based "activist journalist," applied for asylum at the French Consulate in Istanbul, where French intelligence allegedly asked him to carry out military and political espionage against Turkiye in return for asylum. Katie accepted the offer and began compiling data on Syrian refugees and Turkey's migration policies.
MIT discovered that Katie and suspects Ibrahim Shewaish and Halis Elnahar supplied information to a French non-governmental organization (NGO) on orders from DGSE operatives. The Newspaper pointed out.
The NGO, allegedly controlled by French intelligence, instructed the three men to forge evidence of the "torture" of migrants in centers where they were held before deportation.
"The suspects are accused of forging documents containing defaming information against Türkiye and supplying information to foreign intelligence services about Türkiye's migration policies." The Newspaper added.
"He also contacted several foreign media outlets and supplied fake news, such as those claiming Syrians were killed en masse by Turkish troops on the Turkish-Syrian border and claiming border troops dumped 55 migrants into the Meriç (Evros) river between Türkiye and Greece."
Katie is also accused of obtaining personal data on foreigners in Turkey and exchanging intelligence through a WhatsApp group with a contact at the French NGO.
In a phone interview with Middle East Eye, Katie's lawyer, Halim Yilmaz, denied that his client had been spying for French intelligence and stated they would contest the allegations in court.
Yilmaz confirmed that Katie had been under arrest since December 12 on charges of espionage, emphasizing that security forces had been targeting individuals known for human rights activism, especially refugees or those with connections to organizations abroad.
