Turkish-Syrian intel capture fugitive spy after 12-year manhunt

Turkish and Syrian intelligence agencies carried out a joint operation on the Syria-Lebanon border Monday to capture a fugitive wanted for espionage against Türkiye, ending a 12-year manhunt, according to security sources. The suspect, Önder Sığırcıkoğlu, was apprehended during a coordinated mission involving Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT) and Syrian intelligence.

Fugitive had long history of anti-Türkiye activities

Sığırcıkoğlu was originally sentenced in 2013 to 20 years in prison for the 2011 abduction of two Free Syrian Army commanders, Hüseyin Harmuş and Mustafa Kasım, who were handed over to the Assad regime. Harmuş later died in custody. In 2014, the convict escaped from an open prison in Osmaniye, southern Türkiye, with investigators later pointing to the Fetullah Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) as having facilitated the escape through manipulated legal records.

Intelligence work spanned multiple countries

Following his escape, Sığırcıkoğlu reportedly found shelter under Syrian regime intelligence and was assigned to conduct surveillance activities targeting Türkiye. Turkish intelligence tracked him for years using cyber monitoring, surveillance, and intelligence analysis, mapping his movements across Syria, Lebanon, and Russia. Investigators determined he had hidden in Syria before moving to Lebanon’s Jabal Mohsen district and later to Russia’s Krasnodar region, eventually returning to Lebanon via Egypt.

Coordination on border leads to capture

When intelligence indicated he would attempt to re-enter Syrian territory, MİT and Syrian intelligence launched a covert border operation. Sığırcıkoğlu was detained while trying to cross between Lebanon and Syria and subsequently handed over to Turkish judicial authorities working with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and the capital’s counterterrorism unit.

Links to terror networks uncovered

Security sources noted the fugitive had maintained contact with figures tied to anti-Türkiye networks, including Yusuf Nazik, a convicted perpetrator of the 2013 Reyhanlı bombings. Nazik, captured by Turkish intelligence in 2018, later testified that Sığırcıkoğlu had assisted his own prison escape.