Susurluk scandal

The Susurluk scandal was a political scandal in Turkey between 1996-1997 that indicated a relationship between the government, the armed forces, and organized crime in the country; a connection sometimes attributed to the deep state. It started with a car accident on 3 November, 1996, near Susurluk, in the province of Balıkesir. The scandal led to the resignation of the Interior Minister, Mehmet Ağar (a leader of the True Path Party, DYP), following revelations that Abdullah Çatlı, leader of the far-right Grey Wolves organisation, worked for the state.harv|HRFT|1998|p=39]

Scandal

According to the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (HRFT), the scandal led to the discovery of the "Susurluk gang", organized under the pretext of "guarding the State against communism" during the cold war era and of "struggle against the PKK" since 1980s" and that it "was engaged in illegal acts such as drug trafficking, collecting tributes, money laundering through casinos, kidnapping people for political and economic benefits, conspiracy, murder" etc.It began by a chance discovery after a car accident on 3 November, 1996 near Susurluk in Balıkesir province in Turkey. In this accident, former Deputy Chief of Istanbul Police Hüseyin Kocadağ, the leader of the "Grey Wolves" (Nationalist Action Party’s violent youth organization) Abdullah Çatlı, and a woman named Gonca Us (Abdullah Çatlı's girlfriend, a Turkish beauty queen turned mafia hit-woman) died; DYP Şanlıurfa MP Sedat Bucak, who was also the leader of a large group of village guards in Siverek, was injured. This "coalition" exposed the connections between the security forces, politicians and organized crime.

Abdullah Çatlı was a convicted fugitive, who had been wanted for drug trafficking and murder. Evidence seized at the crash site indicated that he had been carrying:
* diplomatic credentials, given by the Turkish authorities
* a government-approved weapons permit
* six ID cards, each with a different name; Lucy Komisar writes that "At the scene of the Mercedes-Benz crash, Turkish investigators found Çatli with a fake passport. "The person on this photo, Mehmet Özbay, serves as a specialist for the police directorate and he is allowed to carry guns." Mehmet Özbay was an alias—the very same alias that Mehmet Ali Agca had on his own passport."Fact|date=July 2008
* several handguns, and silencers
* a cache of narcotics.
* thousands of US dollars.

Resignations of officials

When it became obvious that Çatli was a police collaborator, the Turkish Interior Minister, Mehmet Ağar, resigned. Several high-ranking law enforcement officers, including Istanbul's police chief, were suspended. And the red-hot scandal eventually endangered the careers of other senior government officials.

Parliamentary report

A Parliamentary Investigation Commission, headed by Mehmet Elkatmış, established after the accident published a 350-page "Susurluk Report" in April 1997. The Commission’s report maintained that the state organs used the Grey Wolves and that some state forces initiated the right-left conflicts in the 1970s. ["Annual Report 1997", Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, ISBN 975-7217-22-0. In the Turkish version the quote is on p. 7]

Censored pages of the report, then published by the Turkish press, stated that the "Susurluk gang" decided to kill people that were claimed to be PKK supporters.harv|HRFT|1998|p=47] The censored pages also dealt, according to the HRFT, "with Çatli's domestic and international activities, the coup attempt against Azerbaijan President Haydar Aliyev, formations in state banks, operations against PKK and journalists killed "by unknown assailants", Hadi Özcan gang and its relation with Brigadier General Veli Küçük".

Brigadier General Veli Küçük, who was Giresun's Gendarme Regional Commander, was said by the report to be the head of the unofficial anti-terrorist Gendarmerie organisation JİTEM.harv|HRFT|1998|p=48]

The coup attempt against Aliyev was made on 13-17 March 1995. According to the reports, Turkish officials assisted Ebulfeyz Elçibey, Aliyev's predecessor as president, in his conspiracy.harv|HRFT|1998|p=49]

The report also spoke of Mahmut Yıldırım, alias Yeşil (Green), a mafia leader wanted for a series of murders and who had past links to the National Intelligence Organization (MİT).harv|HRFT|1998|p=51] Yeşil's name was also lifted years later during the Ergenekon investigations.

Investigation

On 24 January, 1998 Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz ordered an investigation of 9 of the 27 issues recommended by the Inspection Board Report:harv|HRFT|1998|p=55]

#The relations of the state official with casino owners and narcotics smugglers and the political and financial aspect of these relations;
#whether there existed any illegality in the Ministry of Tourism while issuing licenses for casinos;
#transfer of the resources of certain public banks to special benefit groups and whether certain political circles asserted pressure to this end;
# money laundering activities among the banks;
# investigation about the state officials that were involved in the planning of the coup attempt in Azerbaijan;
# and investigation about the people within the Security and the MİT that acted independently especially in the incidents related to Susurluk;
# the administrators neglected the affairs of these people.

Prime Minister Yılmaz did not include the "murders by unknown assailants" and drug trafficking among the subjects to be investigated.

A "Draft Law on Struggling With Organized Crime" and another draft on the legalization of JİTEM, allowing the Gendarmerie to carry out intelligence activities, were also prepared as consequences of this scandal.harv|HRFT|1998|pp=56,59]

Reaction

Official

On 15 January, 1998, Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit declared: cquote|It seems that some illegal methods were employed within the state during the anti-terrorist struggle. In the report, some military people are mentioned, but the report implies that the army as a whole was not involved in such affairs. I am glad to hear that. If the army had been involved in such affairs, it would have been highly difficult for us to solve the problem. On the other hand, the situation of the Gendarme is a bit complex because its affiliation is to both the army and the Ministry of Interior Affairs. That's an outcome of the report. JİTEM seems corrupted. [harv|HRFT|1998|p=40]

On 29 June 1998 Mehmet Ağar said "Since 1950, people having been talking about counter guerillas, gladiators, this and that...for thirty years. Which has been shown to be true, to be evidenced, to be exposed? None of them." [cite journal|url=http://www.aksiyon.com.tr/detay.php?id=23162
accessdate=2008-09-21
title=İlk Özel Harpçi Orgeneral
first=Faruk
last=Mercan
journal=Aksiyon
volume=579
date=2006-01-09
language=Turkish
quote=1950'den beri gelen kontrgerillalar, gladiolar, şunlar bunlar... Bunlar otuz senedir söylenen şeyler; hangisi realite içerisinde yerini buldu, hangisi delillendirildi, hangisi ortaya konuldu; hiçbir tanesi ortaya konulmadı.]

Following censorship of some pages of the report, HADEP Deputy Chairman Osman Özçelik declared: cquote| [The] Kurdish problem exists in almost every social crisis in Turkey. [Far from being] alleged, gangs are special instruments of the state and it is known that they have accelerated their activities after the Kurdish problem came on the agenda especially after 1980... It is clear that '1000 operations' statement of Mehmet Ağar, slaughter of more than 160 HEP-DEP and HADEP [all Kurdish parties] board members and members, murders of Kurdish businessmen, village raids and provocation are acts considered as 'state secret'. [harv|HRFT|1998|p=48]

Foreign Minister Tansu Ciller, a leader of the True Path Party, praised Çatli after the crash: cquote|Those who fire bullets or suffer their wounds in the name of this country, this nation, and this state will always be respectfully remembered by us. [Lucy Komisar, [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1295/is_n4_v61/ai_19254727/pg_3 Turkey's terrorists: a CIA legacy lives on] , "The Progressive", April 1997.]

The revelations, published in the press, concerning the Azerbaijan coup attempt also provoked a diplomatic crisis between Turkey and Azerbaijan, and the latter country officially requested a statement refuting this section of the report.harv|HRFT|1998|p=50]

Civilian

Several demonstrations, some of which were proscribed, were organized in protest against the corruption and illegal activities uncovered by the investigations.harv|HRFT|1998|pp=60-62] Furthermore, a nationwide popular event, known as "Sürekli Aydınlık İçin Bir Dakika Karanlık" ("One minute's darkness for the sake of perpetual light"), was organized to protest the "dirty relations triangle" (a nationalist mafia leader, a high ranking police officer, and a member of parliament), or deep state. Participants all around the country turned off the lights for a minute every night at 9pm. Later this was changed to flashing the lights. This practice lasted from February 1, 1997 to February 28, 1997. [cite news|url=http://www.radikal.com.tr/haber.php?haberno=214302
title=10. yılında 28 ŞUBAT (5)
work=Radikal
first=Murat
last=Yetkin
date=2007-03-01
accessdate=2008-08-06
language=Turkish ]

References

Bibliography

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