Although Turkey and Iran compete politically in a wider region from Iraq and Syria to Lebanon and from the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan, the countries are managing to develop their trade and energy relations,[/B] which are reaching an all-time high due to international sanctions against Iran, the Russian website Regnum writes.
Possible attacks by Iran
Israeli President Yitzhak Herzog called his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan. According to the Israeli government press service, Herzog thanked the Turkish side "for its efforts to suppress terrorist activities in Turkey."
There were also reports that Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid is scheduled to visit Turkey on June 23. This visit was prepared in late May, but was postponed.
This time it is linked to events of an extraordinary nature and not only to the process of normalization of relations between the two countries that has begun.
This primarily concerns the discussion of further strengthening ties in the fight against the terrorist threat.
The fact is that on the eve of the visit, Israeli security services sent messages to Turkey about possible attacks by Iran on Israeli citizens on Turkish territory.
"Hunting Israeli civilians"
According to some reports, terrorist attacks were being prepared in Istanbul. The Israeli The Jerusalem Post reported some details.
It turns out that one Hussein Tayyip, who heads intelligence for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), arrived in Turkey. He specializes in "hunting Israeli civilians."
Israeli intelligence services were not only able to obtain such information, but also, as the newspaper points out, "to identify an extensive Iranian terrorist cell in Turkey."
Subsequently, there were interesting reports that Mossad organized the removal of some Israeli civilians from Turkey.
In this context, Turkish intelligence also took the necessary operational measures and the parties - Israel and Turkey - expressed mutual satisfaction with the joint work accomplished, which, the statement said, "contributes to strengthening trust between the governments and peoples in the two countries."
At the same time, the parties agreed to continue "working for the sake of peace and stability in the region."
It could have been set up
But questions remain. After all, IRGC intelligence very rarely uses Turkish territory for high-level operational activities.
It was not Turkish intelligence that informed Mossad about the preparation of terrorist attacks in Istanbul, but quite the opposite.
If IRGC intelligence was indeed preparing something in that country, it could not be to prepare some kind of terrorist attacks, but to hunt down a special person from Israel who is of interest to the IRGC.
More superficially speaking, Tehran could be preparing actions aimed at undermining the rapprochement processes between Turkey and Israel.
On the other hand, the Mossad operation in Turkey could have been staged, since there are no reports of specific detentions and arrests of Iranians in Turkey.
Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that in this way Israel decided to place a "landmine" in Turkey-Iran relations.
Several "dark spots"
Israel is suspicious of the Iraq-brokered talks between Iran and Saudi Arabia to restore diplomatic relations, which could derail its plans to create an Israel-Sunni anti-Iran front.
Then, instead of Saudi Arabia, the role of "key Sunnis" in the Middle East would be assigned to the Turks.
In a word, there are many "dark spots" in this whole story about Iranian terrorist plots against Israelis in Turkey.
Moreover, although Turkey and Iran compete in the political sphere in the region from Iraq to Syria and Lebanon and from the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan, the countries manage to develop their trade and energy relations, the volumes of which have reached an all-time high due to international sanctions against Iran, which have prevented it from entering many of the world's markets.
Ankara and Tehran appear to have reached an unbreakable agreement to fight a common enemy, the Kurdistan Workers' Party-PKK and its Iranian wing, the Kurdistan Free Life Party.
And the Turkish Foreign Ministry, in order not to disrupt the tourist season, has already stated that "the country is taking all necessary measures for the safe stay of citizens of all countries in the republic."
Source: regnum.ru, echedoros-a.gr
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Views & opinions expressed are those of the author and/or Cyprus Times
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