Turkish authorities arrested two individuals in Istanbul on 15 April on suspicion that they were spying on Arab nationals on behalf of United Arab Emirates (UAE), Reuters reported, citing an unnamed senior Turkish official on 19 April. Those arrested, who are believed to be intelligence officers, have reportedly confessed to conducting espionage.
“It is possible that there was an attempt to collect information about Arabs, including political dissidents, living in Turkey”, the source reportedly said.
The source didn’t specify the names of alleged the spies, but noted that one of them had arrived in Turkey in October 2018. A journalist for The Independent Turkish later published alleged photos of the arrested men. Both spies had reportedly recruited informants to be used in their intelligence activities.
“We have extensive evidence of the individuals’ covert activities on Turkish soil,” the source said.
Turkey has reportedly also found the spies’ hidden base of operations and seized encrypted computers as a result of a counter-intelligence investigation. The UAE hasn’t commented on the report yet.