Mossad chief Tamir Pardo met with a senior Turkish intelligence officer this week to discuss Syria and Iran, as well as the protest movement in Turkey, according to the country’s independent Hurriyet newspaper.
The meeting was secret, and the newspaper did not provide details except from sources who said Pardo and Turkish intelligence agency undersecretary Hakan Fidan shared information on Iran and Syria as well as the continuing protest movement in Turkey. Some of that information is that the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and Assad are planting seeds against Turkey.
The Syrian civil war has spilled over into Turkey, where Syria has attacked rebels on the border several times. Tens of thousands of refugees have fled to Turkey, making it a source of worry for Assad who already is paranoid enough.
Iran also may be interested in stirring up unrest in Turkey, partly because of its necessity to keep Assad in power and partly because of the possibility that Israel could use Turkish air space to attack Iranian nuclear facilities.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who dumped Israel’s friendship four years and raced into the waiting arms of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad, beat a hasty reverse last year.
He totally misjudged his newfound friends and now finds Syria and its ally Iran breathing down its neck. Erdogan’s belligerent attitude has kept him from publicly embracing Israel, and he continues to support Hamas in Gaza.
Hurriyet reported that Pardo wants to meet with Erdogan, who has not yet replied one way or another.