Syria: There are 50 senior agents in Turkey, ex-spy says

There are nearly 50 high-ranking intelligence agents on Turkey's Syria border, including agents from the United States, France, Germany, Britain and "perhaps Greece," former CIA agent Philip Giraldi told Tolga Tanış of daily Hürriyet in an interview.

The former agent said there would be numerous spies working under the high-ranking spies and "many" informants working under them.

Giraldi said he thought there were 15-20 high-ranking CIA agents in Turkey working on the Syrian conflict alone.

"They would be paramilitary agents," Giraldi said. "They would be based at the consulate in Adana or the İncirlik Air Base, but could operate in the field as well," Giraldi said, adding that the agents would not cross into Syria but would direct intelligence operations from within Turkey in collaboration with Turkey's National Intelligence Agency (MİT).

Turkish and American intelligence agencies were working "very closely" on the Syrian issue, Giraldi said, adding that the U.S. provided Turkey with photographs including satellite pictures and sensitive technical information it normally would not share with anyone. A Turkish intelligence officer "always" accompanies CIA agents in their dealings with officials from the Free Syrian Army, according to Giraldi. "This is not a rule, but that is how things work."

Giraldi guessed there would be high-ranking agents from France, Germany, Britain and "possibly Greece" near the Turkish-Syrian border, and would operate from the İncirlik Air Base, since it was a NATO base. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, meanwhile, worked in cooperation with the Turkish Foreign Ministry, he added.

Turkish intelligence agents were better than any other agent, and anyone would be considered "an amateur" when it came to regional issues of the Middle East. "A CIA agent, on the other hand, would be far more advanced in technical issues, such as phone tapping, or following people on the ground via satellite imagery."

Giraldi said the MİT coordinated all intelligence gathering activities related to Syria and worked in coordination with German, French, British and American intelligence services. He said each and every piece of information gathered by the agencies would be shared by all. "You cannot keep any information only to yourself in this environment.” 

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