Israel denies espionage charges against couple detained in Turkey
Israel is working for the release of an Israeli couple facing espionage charges in Turkey for allegedly taking pictures of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s residence.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett denied allegations carried by Turkish state media that the couple - Natali and Mordy Oknin - were spies.
Bennett's office released a statement on Saturday evening after he spoke with the couple’s family.
“The Prime Minister said that he stood by the members of the family and updated them on the efforts being made to return the couple who, as already emphasised by official sources, are not working on behalf of any Israeli agency,” the statement said.
The foreign ministry had been “dealing with the matter throughout the weekend, and will continue to do so without respite, in order to resolve it as soon as possible”, Bennett said.
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According to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu agency, the Israeli couple were detained along with a Turkish national on Friday, after employees saw them taking photos of Erdogan’s residence from the Camlica Tower, a telecommunications tower in Istanbul with observation decks.
The three suspects were questioned by police before being moved to a prison. They now face “charges of political and military espionage”, Anadoulu reported.
While on paper, Israel and Turkey have had normal diplomatic ties since 2016, neither hosts the other's ambassador due to regular fallouts over Israel's treatment of Palestinians and Jerusalem's holy sites. The two countries have been conducting talks to repair their downgraded relations since last year through intelligence agencies.
Last month, the Turkish intelligence agency, MIT, arrested 15 men accused of spying for Israel's foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, in Turkey, including Palestinians who had been missing in Turkey since September.
The Sabah newspaper reported that MIT had rounded up 15 men who were allegedly organised into three-person cells across the country.
Two people who are familiar with the arrests confirmed to Middle East Eye that the men have been arrested on charges of "espionage and working for the Mossad to gather information on Palestinian citizens living in Turkey".
The sources added that there were Palestinians and Syrians among those arrested, and that they were tasked with "collecting information on Turkish officials and Palestinian students inside Turkey".
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