Abu Dhabi spies in Istanbul: A serious security breach for Palestinian and Islamic movements
Written by Mustafa Youssef Al-Qashlan
In a highly dangerous security development, Turkish authorities revealed the dismantling of a spy cell working for Emirati intelligence within Turkish territory, in one of the most serious security breach cases that targeted Palestinian and Islamic movements in Istanbul in recent years.
According to what was published by the Turkish TRT network, in mid-April, security forces arrested two Palestinians on charges of political and military espionage on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. They are Samer Samih Shaaban, 40 years old, and Zaki Yousef Hassan, 55 years old, after closely monitoring their movements and contacts for a long period.
The investigations revealed that the defendants have direct links to Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian leader expelled from Fatah and residing in Abu Dhabi, whom Ankara says it has evidence of being involved in supporting attempts to destabilize Turkey, including indirect links to the failed coup attempt in July 2016.
According to the indictment prepared by the Istanbul Public Prosecutor's Office, Zaki Yousef Hassan previously held a high-ranking position in the Palestinian intelligence service before moving to Bulgaria after his retirement. He later relocated to Istanbul, where he began his espionage activities under the direct orders of Dahlan. As for Samer Samih Shaaban, he moved from Gaza to Turkey in 2008 following the Palestinian division, and banking and electronic investigations revealed his involvement in organized intelligence activity and his ongoing communication with Dahlan.
According to Turkish security sources, the cell's tasks focused on gathering detailed information about the activities of the Fatah and Hamas movements inside Turkey, monitoring the names of leaders and affiliates, as well as attempting to infiltrate the organizational structure of the Muslim Brotherhood and obtain data related to its movements and structure within the country.
Security sources confirmed that the accused confessed during the investigations to working for Emirati intelligence, in a case that reflects the escalation of what has become known as the silent intelligence war in the region, and the use by some regional capitals of cross-border spy networks targeting Islamic and Palestinian movements under the guise of political or humanitarian work.
This issue comes in a highly complex regional context, coinciding with a continuous Israeli escalation, statements by the occupation Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about the strength of the Palestinian factions and failed attempts to impose international security arrangements, which reinforces fears of undeclared coordination between regional and international parties to strike at resistance forces and Islamic movements through intelligence tools.
Through this operation, Ankara affirms that it will not tolerate any espionage activity that targets its national security or turns its territory into an arena for intelligence conflict, stressing that protecting its sovereignty and the security of residents on its territory is a red line that cannot be compromised.
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