In the murky world of international espionage and covert operations, there are certain rules that are “carved in stone”.
In 2011 Turkey broke that rule in a way that caused serious damage to Israeli and American intelligence operations in the Middle East, cost the lives of at least ten Mossad agents in Iran and badly damaged Turkey’s worldwide reputation as a reliable ally.
Background: In 1949, Secular Turkey was the first Muslim country to recognize Israel and establish full diplomatic relations with the Jewish State. Strong military, strategic, and economic relations developed over the next six decades.
By 1999, trade and tourism were booming, the Israeli Air Force trained in Turkish airspace, joint military exercises were the norm, Turkey purchased drones from Israel and the Israelis upgraded Turkish combat jets and tanks. There was high-tech cooperation on numerous projects, as well as plans for regional water sharing.
A unique intelligence alliance started with a secret meeting in Ankara in 1958 between Prime Minister David Ben Gurion and Turkish PM Adnan Menderes. “The concrete result was a formal but top-secret agreement for comprehensive cooperation” between the Mossad and Turkish intelligence, wrote Dan Raviv and Yossi Melman in their 2012 book, “Spies Against Armageddon.”
As noted in a well-researched expose by David Ignatius published on October 16 in the Washington Post [1]: “The groundwork had been laid secretly by Reuven Shiloah, the founding director of the Mossad, as part of what he called a ‘peripheral alliance strategy’. Through that partnership, Israel provided training in espionage to the Turks...” and Turkey facilitated Israeli intelligence and military operations in Syria, Iraq and, after 1979 – Iran.
Relations cooled after Islamist Recep Tayyip Erdogan became Prime Minister in 2003. Though Erdogan paid an official visit to Israel in 2005, his strong anti-Israeli rhetoric and close relations with the Moslem Brotherhood (MB) indicated an intentional shift of Turkish alignment from a secular, Israel-oriented position to an Islamist, pro-MB one.
While relations got worse after the 2010 flotilla incident, military and intelligence cooperation continued quietly, with crucial, actionable information on Iran being shared with the US and NATO.
With the revelation last week by David Ignatius of Turkey’s responsibility for the capture of the Israeli spies in Iran, relations have hit a new low.
In his article, Ignatius says: “The Turkish-Israeli relationship became so poisonous early last year that the Turkish government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to have disclosed to Iranian intelligence the identities of up to ten Iranians who had been meeting inside Turkey with their Mossad case officers.”
According to Iranian sources these suspects, all Iranian Kurds, were arrested, “interrogated” until they confessed, tried in secret and executed. Sources in the US describe the Turkish action as a “significant” loss of intelligence. The Israelis call it a despicable, wicked betrayal.
The intriguing question is: Why did this story come out only now…and who leaked it?
Four countries know exactly what happened: Iran, Turkey, Israel and the US. Does one of them have a motive to ruin Turkey’s standing in the world of international diplomacy and espionage, at this delicate time?
- Iran? – No. Why “burn” a highly prolific “fifth column” in NATO.
- Turkey? – No. The exposure caused huge embarrassment and loss of face and trust throughout the world.
- Israel? – No. Maintains a good relation with the Turkish army (though NOT with Turkey’s equivalent of the CIA).
- The US? No. Why disgrace a US ally, NATO member and close friend of the administration?
But maybe that’s just the point…:
According to Israeli analysts, the leak about Turkey’s “betrayal” and the fingering of Hakan Fidan, Turkey’s all powerful spy chief and close confidant of Erdogan, as the person who has been passing highly sensitive information to Iran for years, actually came from high level US sources, but not from the White House.
These analysts argue that in the US government there are those who are uncomfortable with the current Middle East Policies. By leaking facts to discredit Turkey and its spy-chief, they hope to throw a proverbial monkey-wrench into a key component of that policy, thus forcing the administration to rethink what’s best for America, Egypt…and Israel. As of now, and in the absence of more details, I find it hard to dispute their logic.
Agree or disagree, that’s my opinion.
[1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-turkey-blows-israels-cover-for-iranian-spy-ring/2013/10/16/7d9c1eb2-3686-11e3-be86-6aeaa439845b_story.html
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