Turkey Arrests Six on Charges of Spying for Iran

Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT, using its Turkish acronym) and local counter-terrorism police launched coordinated raids in five provinces this week, arresting six individuals suspected of spying for Iran.

The espionage ring was allegedly targeting Incirlik Air Base, a critical facility used by both Turkish and American forces.

According to Turkish media reports, the alleged spies were coordinating their efforts with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a designated terrorist organization. One of the detainees is reportedly an Iranian national named Ashkan Jalali, while the other five are Turkish citizens.

Turkey’s pro-government Daily Sabah reported on Wednesday that Jalali, who was based in Ankara, was plotting to acquire armed unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Turkey using a pair of companies he owned, and then transfer those drones to the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) and Greek Cyprus. Some of the other suspects arrested in the counter-terrorism raids appeared to be managers of Jalali’s companies.

According to the Daily Sabah report, Jalali and one of the other suspects, Alican Koc, attended “specialized drone training sessions in Iran in August and September 2025.” Two of the other suspects, Erhan Ergelen and Taner Ozcan, “traveled to Iran in October 2025 and played roles in drone shipment plans to Greek Cyprus.”

The island of Cyprus is uneasily divided between Turkish and Greek segments. Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 when Greece attempted to claim the entire territory, establishing the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC), a de facto state that is not formally recognized by any country except Turkey. Iran has a long history of meddling in Cyprus and using it to further Tehran’s ends.

The espionage ring in Turkey had plans that went far beyond smuggling drones. Daily Sabah reported that some of the proceeds from commercial drone sales were diverted to finance the espionage activities of the cell. In addition to conducting surveillance on Incirlik, the group may also have been planning to attack Iranian dissidents living abroad. 

The espionage cell was allegedly supervised by two IRGC operatives, Najaf Rostami and Mahdi Yekeh Dehghan, code-named “Haji” and “Doctor” respectively. The Iranian embassy in Ankara did not immediately comment on the arrests and allegations.