Citizenship granted to Hamas leader: Facts revealed in spy case

Timur Soykan

The AKP’s neo-Ottoman foreign policy ambitions have come at a heavy cost for Turkey. While hundreds of soldiers were martyred, the country was flooded with migrants, radical Islamist groups and illicit money. Turkey has also become a haven for spies. The AKP’s invitation to Hamas cadres sparked an intelligence war between Israel and Turkey. The arrests of dozens accused of being MOSSAD spies demonstrated this. Among the suspects were migrants from Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

A wave of operations launched in 2024 was astonishing: numerous retired police officers working as private investigators were detained. MOSSAD had found a clever way to conduct espionage in Turkey without sending its own agents, avoiding risk and high costs.

MOSSAD’S CRAFTY SCHEME

According to the defence of the accused investigators, the method worked like this:

Israeli agents would search online for detective agencies in Turkey and make contact using phone lines from countries like Russia and Ukraine. They introduced themselves as Russians or Ukrainians, claiming to be consultants for real estate firms or detectives. They explained that they were investigating certain individuals at the request of companies and wanted to collaborate. Journalist Barış Terkoğlu had previously reported on this method in Cumhuriyet.

One of the investigators accused of providing information to Israel’s secret service was Gönen Karakaya. He was charged with Political and Military Espionage, Forming an Organisation to Commit Crime, and Unlawfully Obtaining or Disseminating Personal Data.

Karakaya is a retired police officer and owner of GNN Detective Agency. He had served for years in the homicide department and had been briefly detained in an operation targeting Iranian drug lord Zindaşti.

On 5 April 2024, Karakaya, his wife Fatma Serap Karakaya, and their stepson Yaşar Alperen Dincel were arrested and remain in prison.

ALLEGED SURVEILLANCE

According to the indictment, Gönen Karakaya had contact since 2019 with agents Yuriy Kovalchuk and Peter/Petrenko from Israel’s Online Operations Centre. At their request, he allegedly tracked several Palestinians in Turkey. Along with his wife and son, he posed as a family to secretly record videos and take photos, later sending them to Yuriy or Peter.

Karakaya and his family are accused of tracking and supplying information about Palestinians Azzam Husni Mahmoud Aqra/Kemal Salih, Nezar Abo-Mady, Abdalrahman Aııssa, Mohamoud Jamal Hassan Alnajjar, Moaz M. Sharaan and Mohamed Binisa to MOSSAD in 2020.

“MOSSAD DECEIVED US”

In their statements, Karakaya, his wife and son said they were deceived and used by MOSSAD. Karakaya explained that Yuriy had contacted him through his detective agency’s website and said:

“He told me he was a retired soldier working as a detective and consulting for real estate firms. He said some companies asked him to gather information about their staff due to intense trade between the two countries. He promised I’d get a share of the payment. I said I wouldn’t do surveillance but could collect the information. I checked online and found info about him and the company, and trusted him.”

Karakaya said Yuriy once made an urgent request: “He gave the licence plate, location and time of a car arriving at İstanbul Airport. He had all the details. I was in the car with my wife because I was ill and she always accompanied me. We went straight to the airport. I called my son to pick up his mother. When I saw the people, I immediately realised they didn’t look like employees of any company. They looked at me threateningly so I walked away. I’m also accused of another surveillance but I didn’t do it.”

However, the indictment says Karakaya, his wife and son disguised themselves as a family and recorded footage of Azzam Husni Mahmoud Aqra.

HAMAS HIDDEN IN THE INDICTMENT

So who were these individuals?

The indictment refers to them as Palestinian activists, stating:

“Palestinian national activist Azzam Husni Mahmoud Aqra (Kemal Salih) was targeted by Israeli Intelligence for opposing the country's Palestinian policy…”

Yet in reality, these were Hamas leaders and this fact was concealed in the indictment. Azzam Husni Mahmoud Aqra, described as a ‘Palestinian activist,’ was actually a senior Hamas official responsible for military operations abroad. The indictment reveals he had been granted Turkish citizenship and assumed the name ‘Kemal Salih’.

Azzam Husni Mahmoud Aqra was killed on 2 January 2024 in an Israeli strike in Beirut.

PLAINTIFFS ARE HAMAS MEMBERS

In his statement, Karakaya said that months before his detention, intelligence officers from MİT had contacted him and he had given them all the information himself. He claims the indictment was based on the information he provided, adding, “We’ve been in prison for 1.5 years for a crime we didn’t commit. My wife and son are imprisoned even though they had no involvement.”

His lawyers argue that Turkish citizens and retired police officers are being jailed to protect Hamas. They say Hamas members attend the hearings and note: “A family is in prison on charges of tracking a key Hamas figure. They didn’t track these people. Even if they did, they are Hamas members. That doesn’t constitute espionage. Despite severe health issues, Fatma Serap Karakaya is not being released.”

PERSONAL DATA IN ISRAEL’S HANDS

The indictment, which details how Israel’s secret service used private detective agencies set up by retired police officers, reveals numerous scandals. It shows how personal data from state-protected systems was leaked. These data not only reached fraudsters but also foreign intelligence agencies.

The activities of Karakaya and another retired officer, Seyit Ahmet Yurtseven, are summarised as follows:

“The suspect and his associate Seyit Ahmet Yurtseven obtained confidential information (signal, base entry/exit, flight, accommodation, ID, address etc.) from public institutions accessible only to authorised personnel either via Gönen Karakaya or from Emre Çalışkan in exchange for money.”

COPS SELLING DATA

Prosecutors claim the accused obtained personal data from serving police officers. The indictment states: “Gönen Karakaya had police officer Kenan Oymak check the phone number of victim Abdalrahman AIISSA on 3 December 2020…” and “The suspect illegally obtained information through his connections in public institutions, including current police officers like Osman M., Hurşit B., Eşref P. and Muhammet Ş., who are involved in separate ongoing investigations…”

Some of these officers have even been prosecuted for placing tracking devices illegally. They sold data covering everything from flights to hotel stays, from addresses to plate recognition systems, and from cell tower signals to call records (HTS). Detective agencies are said to have used these data even in routine infidelity investigations.

This major security lapse in the state has drawn the attention of foreign intelligence services. In this case, it’s clear that MOSSAD obtained personal data, creating a serious national security issue.

STINGY SPIES

Israeli agents also appeared extremely frugal in this sly operation. Avoiding the costs and risks of sending agents to Turkey, they bargained hard with detectives unaware they were being used. Seyit Ahmet Yurtseven recounted his dealings with a man he thought was Russian, named ‘Igor’:

“I didn’t know Igor was confirming this information for Israeli Intelligence. We asked for $1,000 for the job but settled on $800.”

Israeli agents even requested footage and information about an exchange office in Istanbul frequented by Palestinians. The accused police officers deny obtaining personal data, but the prosecution insists they knowingly assisted Israel.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Hamas’ın yöneticisine vatandaşlık verilmiş: Casus davasından çıkan gerçekler, published in BirGün newspaper on July 30, 2025.