Escalation: Turkey Announces Arrest Of Mossad Agent In Istanbul

Turkish security officials announced the arrest of Liridon Rexhepi, a Kosovan national identified as the head of Mossad's financial network in Turkey. Rexhepi was detained in Istanbul last Friday in a joint operation with the Istanbul police and was formally arrested on Tuesday. MIT discovered Rexhepi after detecting irregularities in his financial accounts, which showed countless transfers to Mossad field agents in Turkey via Western Union. During interrogation, Rexhepi admitted that funds from Kosovo were transferred to sources in Syria using cryptocurrencies. Turkish authorities have detained and charged dozens of suspected Mossad agents since the start of the year, most of whom were Turkish nationals. The Israeli intelligence operation targeted Palestinian nationals and their families within the scope of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A Turkish prosecutor announced plans to seek up to 20 years in prison for 57 suspects charged with spying for the Mossad in July. Turkish media has been showing Rexhepi's face all day Tuesday. The indictment said the Israeli agency created a remote, online operation team through mobile applications to provide remote sources, transfer money via live couriers, and carry out tactical operations against its targets in the field.