Turkish, Syrian Intelligence Capture Fugitive Spy Near Lebanon Border

(MENAFN) A man wanted for espionage against Türkiye was apprehended near the Syria-Lebanon frontier on Monday during a joint operation carried out by Turkish and Syrian intelligence agencies, according to security sources. The individual had evaded authorities for over a decade.

Onder Sigircikoglu, who had been a fugitive for 12 years, was arrested in a coordinated effort between Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) and the Syrian Intelligence Service.

He was subsequently transferred to judicial authorities under the coordination of Ankara’s chief public prosecutor and the counterterrorism unit of the Ankara police department.

In 2013, Sigircikoglu received a 20-year prison sentence for abducting two Free Syrian Army commanders — Hussein Harmoush and Mustafa Kassum — in 2011 and delivering them to the forces of Bashar al-Assad. Harmoush later died while in custody.

He fled from an open prison in Osmaniye province, Türkiye, in 2014. Investigators later claimed that the terrorist organization FETO played a role in aiding his escape by tampering with legal documents and sentence calculations.

Security sources further reported that Sigircikoglu subsequently took refuge in Syria, where he was reportedly sheltered by the Syrian regime’s intelligence apparatus and assigned to conduct espionage operations targeting Türkiye. During this time, he allegedly provided information on individuals working in favor of Türkiye and maintained connections with figures tied to anti-Türkiye networks, including terrorist Yusuf Nazik, who had been convicted in connection with the 2013 Reyhanli bombings.

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