by using a Kanak brand assassination rifle.
When these “confessions” were covered in the media, CHP MP Ercan Karakaş said that no result had come from the information they had provided 6 months before, but that they themselves had been passed off as guilty parties, and added, “We informed the Brigade Commander about this confessor. We informed the President, the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister about this issue at the time. I talked with Ülkü Güney, then Minister of the Interior, personally. I gave him the reports. Güney said ‘I will take care of it.’ Later, they said that our claims were baseless. Somebody does something in the Security Directorate, and Security itself investigates it.”
In the course of the investigation it was determined that Necip Baskın had not been taken to a house after abduction, but to Yüksekova Security Directorate. Special Operations Branch members Fatih Özhan, Yusuf Azmi Aydın and Abdulkadir Bayram, who were interrogated in connection with the abduction, stated in the testimony they gave to the police inspector that, “We are not gang members, and we have no relations with the gang. We took Necip Baskın for interrogation since we learned he was to meet with people from PKK. We do not have any information about the ransom.” According to the information gathered; village guards wearing snow masks and PKK outfits went to the house of Faris Baskın in Vezirli village together with PKK confessor Bilgiç, who was not wearing a mask. Introducing himself as a member of PKK, Bilgiç asked for 200,000 DM for Necip Baskın, and gave a PKK receipt to İlhan Baskın, a relative. Necip Baskın, whose face was covered, was handed over to police officers waiting at the entry to the village. Although it was claimed when the event was uncovered that Baskın had been taken to the house of one of the officers, in the inspector’s report it was stated that he was taken to the District Special Operations Branch Office. Later, the authorities story of how the event was uncovered was: “After the Gendarme Command was informed about the abduction of Necip Baskın by PKK militants, İlhan Baskın’s statement was taken. Information was taken about the physical appearance of the person not wearing a mask during the raid. The fact that the man whose face was uncovered had a short back and sides helped us. Upon this, Bilgiç, who had been assisting troops in the Brigade for about three years and whose name had been mentioned in connection with some events previously, was taken for interrogation. Bilgiç confessed that they had carried out the action, and gave the names of the village guards who had been with him at the time, and of the police officers they had handed Baskın to, so the matter was solved.”
After these developments, the CHP MPs carried out more research in the region in September, and prepared another report. The report, read out by MP for Tunceli Orhan Veli Yıldırım on 9 October, stated, “Urgent measures must be taken for the period after the abolition of the Special Team and village guard systems in Eastern and Southeastern Turkey. Otherwise, the people of the region will slaughter each other in total civil war.”
The report said that the previous report prepared in March by the CHP MPs reflected the facts. It recorded that the gang members abused their posts for their personal interests, and included the statement “An illegal gang has come into existence within the state institutions, which cannot be reconciled to the principles of the social legal state.” The report claimed that the gang members obtained commission from the narcotics trade, and that this was one of the factors that paved the way for murders by unknown assailants. The report said that the gang abused the identities and authority of state officials, and stressed that state administrators were aware of the activities of the gang. This assertion was supported with the statement of an official whose name was not released, “If something happens and is not uncovered, surely we must also be involved in it.” The report added, “The Necip Baskın incident should not be concluded with a few victims, but must be followed to the end. Thus, Turkey will be acquitted and will gain credit in world opinion and the murders by unknown assailants will be solved; and our citizens will gain confidence in their state at the same time.” Yıldırım stated that they had not included in the report many of their findings and documents in regard of the progress of the investigation, and said that an NCO named Hüseyin Oğuz, serving at Hakkari, had called and informed them that he had been conducting out investigation of the Baskın incident of 29 September for the first two days, but that later he had been relieved of duty. Yıldırım said, “This NCO declared to us that he had found some important information and documents, and on condition of guarantee he may make
University determined that some parts of the engine were not found, and the suspicion of external interference to the helicopter came onto the agenda.
important statements.” Yıldırım noted that the government was in possession of all the documents they themselves had.
The report also said that 2 NCOs died and 5 shepherds disappeared during a clash between the PKK and security officers on 25 August in Otluca village, Hakkari, and stated: “The villagers examined the area 15 days after the event, and discovered bloodied felt coats, shirts, and trousers, but could not find the disappeared people. No information was found regarding the whereabouts of Lokman Kaya (18), Halit Ertuş (65), Ahmet Bozkır (39), Selahattin Aşar (45) and Süleyman Tekin (50) despite various applications. Their relatives believe that these people have been taken by the special gang.” The statements of a regional businessman, Seyit Geylani, were included in the report, “Our patience is at the limit. There is no businessman or wealthy man left in Yüksekova and Hakkari who does not give protection money to the gang. There is not one official who does not know by whom this protection money is taken. Because we even gave tapes to the authorities and to some MPs of our region. But nobody did anything about it until now.”
Colonel Hamdi Poyraz, Lieutenant Colonel Mehmet Emin Yurdakul, Lieutenant Colon- el İbrahim İşgüder, Lieutenant Colonel Kamber Oğuz, Captain Nihat Yiğiter, First Lieutenant Hamza Çeleboğlu, Special Team Chief Fatih Özhan, police officer Azmi Aydın, village guards Kerim Özcük, Osman Özpazar, Necmettin Haceyi and Kahraman Bilgiç were detained in the scope of the investigation. The investigation against the “gang members,” who were in detention for 20 days, was completed on 12 October. The same day, Yüksekova Heavy Penal Court remanded Fatih Özhan, police officer Azmi Aydın, Kerim Özcük, Osman Özpazar, Necmettin Haceyi and Kahraman Bilgiç in custody. Police officer Abdülkadir Bayram and the village guards Selim Ergen and Osman Ergen were released. Necip Baskın was confronted with Kahraman Bilgiç in the trial, and identified him as the head of the gang who had abducted him. Bilgiç, who was confronted with Abdullah Canan’s brother Mehmet Canan, rejected the accusations of murder. Meanwhile, Yüksekova State Prosecutor Mehmet Turgay, was dismissed from his post in Yüksekova and assigned to the Yazıhan District of Malatya. The trial launched by Diyarbakır SSC, started on 11 April 1997. (*).
Other gangs
The crime organisations known for years as “cheques and deeds mafia” and “ülkücü mafia,” were called “gangs” after the Susurluk accident. During the process of investigations it was understood from the number of the people detained and the equipment seized, that some of these gangs were well-organised hierarchies. Another noteworthy point was that the gangs in question somehow had relations with each other in general. For instance, Mahmut Yıldırım, with the code name “Yeşil,” who was involved in a number of murders by unknown assailants in the Southeast was taking protection money from Ömer Lütfü Topal, and the “Hadi Özcan gang,” which was active in the area of Sakarya, was in discussions to kill Abdullah Çatlı.
The Söylemez Brothers
The “Söylemez Brothers Gang” was the most distinguished among these organisations. The Söylemez Brothers Gang formed an important example of the “gang” concept. One of the chief events that made the name of “Söylemez” known occurred on 26 February. A group of people raided the office of Ömer Çetinsaya, the nephew of Ahmet Çetinsaya, Mayor of Eminönü in İstanbul, and took two police officers hostage. In the clash Çetinsaya killed Sait Aydın (later it came out that this man was wanted for the murders of two people), and wounded Şeref Aydın. Five or six people managed to escape after the incident, but three were captured alive. It was claimed that the people who raided the office were the members of “Söylemez Brothers Gang.” As well as Çetinsaya, Ahmet Söylemez, Abdülhalim Kahraman, Arif Yanık and Barış Bedirhan Çınar, members of the Söylemez Brothers Gang were arrested in connection with the incident.
Following this, Resul Söylemez (a retired police officer) and his brother Nasır (a retired superintendent) were murdered while visiting Ahmet Söylemez at Eskişehir E-Type Prison on
(*) A trial at Diyarbakır SSC was an interesting example of the protection of confessors. In the course of the
trial, in which 7 people, detained on 21 and 22 June 1994 upon the testimony of Kahraman Bilgiç, were prosecuted on charges of “aiding the PKK,” the lawyers requested Bilgiç be heard as a witness. Upon this, the SSC demanded the Provincial Gendarme Regiment Command of Hakkari to transfer Bilgiç to court. But a letter to the SSC, signed by Colonel Kamil Ertiryaki, stated that Bilgiç had been assigned to Northern Iraq, and so could not be brought to Court. The SSC made a second request in 1996, but this time the letter, signed by Hakkari Provincial Gendarme Regiment Commander Colonel Necati Kılıçkaya and sent to the Court stated that the person with the code name “Hawar” was a Syrian and had died in a clash.
12 March. A taxi driver named Ercan Akyol was also murdered in this incident. The assault was claimed to have been carried out by Ali Bulut and İlyas Sarınca. Later, on 20 April, the grandfather Halit Pişkin (62) of Ahmet Çetinsaya, the Mayor of Eminönü, and his nephew Hakan Çetinsaya (20) were murdered in Erenköy. In the statement made by the police, it was claimed that former officer Faysal Söylemez, Mehmet Sena Söylemez who had been a doctor but was expelled from the profession, and Mustafa Söylemez, who had been expelled from the police, ordered the killings of Hakan Çetinsaya and Halit Pişkin for revenge.
After these and similar incidents, an operation was launched against the Söylemez Brothers Gang. A clash broke out between members of the Söylemez Brothers Gang and İstan- bul police officers on 11 June at the toll-booths at the entry of Adana-Pozantı highway. Mehmet Faysal and Mehmet Sena Söylemez, Fevzi Şahin and Can Köksal were apprehended in the clash. Subsequently, many people, including soldiers and police, were detained on charges of being members of the gang. Among the detainees were Mehmet Sıddık Bakır, assistant police super- intendent (serving as second lieutenant at Silopi District Gendarme Squadron Command when caught), NCOs Kamil Türk, Cevdet Koçak, Abdullah Alaca, Süleyman Şahin, Serdar Doğan and Selçuk Esin, serving at Güvercinlik Ground Aviation School Attack Helicopter Battalion, on charges of “assisting the gang,” and NCO Oktay Karagöz and retired NCOs Ünal Özkan and Ayhan Lallı, who were determined to have relations with the above mentioned people.
On 25 June, Mehmet Faysal Söylemez and Can Köksal were remanded in custody. Oktay Söylemez, Numan Akman, Nazlı Akgün, Cafer and Mehmet Şükrü Ergin, Fehmi Uzel, Metin Savcı, Muhsin Çayan and Şevki Anlar were released pending trial. More than 10 trials are underway for the Söylemez Brothers Gang.
In a statement he gave to the daily Radikal on 3 December, Mehmet Sena Söylemez, a leading member of the gang, made very important allegations about “the Bucak clan, Sedat Bucak and Mehmet Ağar.” According to the news article, the Söylemez brothers, who were in feud with the Bucak clan, were supposed to be transferred to Kütahya Prison, where members of the Bucak clan were imprisoned, during the period when Ağar was the Minister of the Interior. Metin Aslan, the Kütahya Prison Prosecutor, stated that he had received a letter from the Ministry of Justice on this matter last July, and said, “There were enemies of the Söylemez brothers in the prison. Therefore, I submitted a counter letter indicating the transfer of Söylemez brothers would not be sound.” In his letter to the Ministry of Justice, Prosecutor Aslan said “enemies of the Söylemez brothers are on remand in the prison, and such a transfer would not be sound from the point of view of personal security.” Mehmet Sena Söylemez said the following, according to the above mentioned article: “I was transferred to Kütahya Prison. Some murderers who been involved in the murders of my elder brother and nephew and other gunmen from the Bucak clan were waiting there for me. As the prosecutor of the prison knew this situation, he used his authority to refuse my entry into the prison, so I survived. I was waiting outside the prosecutor’s house in the prison van, while the prosecutor was under pressure to accept me to the prison. As this did not work, they sent me to Kırklareli Prison with instructions by fax half an hour after office hours. Confessor Alaattin Kanat and some gunmen were waiting there for me. I became ill on the way and they had to take me to a doctor. I was brought back to İstanbul Prison.”
Meanwhile, İstanbul Public Prosecution launched a trial against 10 people, including 4 police officers, on charges of “receiving bribes from and turning a blind eye to the activities of the Söylemez Brothers Gang.” Deniz Gökçetin, Assistant Security Director, was indicted with a demand of up to 24 years imprisonment, for the double offence of “accepting bribes.” On 5 September, arrest warrants were issued for Gökçetin, Sedat Demir, former Director of Public Order Branch, chief superintendents Erdal Durmaz and Halim Apaydın, and for Halim Karakaş, a hotel manager accused of giving bribes to police officers. The fugitive police chiefs Demir and Durmaz were caught at the house of former police officer Mustafa Haskırış (*) in Elmalı village, İstanbul, on 15 January 1997. Gökçetin was caught at another house in İstanbul. The trial against these people started at İstanbul Heavy Penal Court No: 5 on 18 October. In the trial, Apaydın, who had been serving at İstanbul Anti-Riot Branch Directorate, claimed that his testimony had
(*) Before 1980, Sedat Demir had been a member of the left-wing police association Pol-Der, and Mustafa
Haskırış a member of extreme right-wing police association Pol-Bir. Haskırış served at Ankara Political Police centre after 12 September, and was sentenced to 13 years 4 months in prison for killing Zeynel Abidin Ceylan under torture in 1981. Haskırış, who had been released on bail just prior to the verdict, was wanted for a period of time. The name of Haskırış, who was expelled from the police force, was mentioned in relations to the kidnapping of a jeweller in Kayseri in 1986.
been taken under torture during 11 days period of his detention, and stated that he had a doctor’s report certifying his need for 10 days recuperation.
The trial launched against First Lieutenant Can Köksal, NCO Oktay Sağlam and NCO Osman Nuri Sunar, who were tried at İstanbul First Army Command Military Court on charges of supplying military equipment to the Söylemez Brothers Gang, was concluded on 6 December. Köksal and Sağlam were each sentenced to 3 years imprisonment. The sentence of 3 months in prison given to Sunar was later commuted to a fine.
Other incidents
Ten people claimed to have participated in the abduction of İskender Gül, Foreign Relations Director of İzmit City Municipality, were detained in Antalya and Kocaeli in June. It was claimed that these people, reportedly Hadi Özcan’s men, had been involved in offences of murder, ransom, wounding, kidnapping, opening fire at a car, and extorting cheques and deeds by force of arms. As a result of operations carried out by the Political Police, Recep Alp, Ata Karadereli and Muhammet Ali Oylum were detained in Kocaeli; and Murat Oral, Nevzat Şenoğlu, Murat Fil, Ömer Özdemir, Ertan Taştan, Cihan Tuna and Serkan Hebil in Antalya. During their interrogation, the defendants confessed that they had kidnapped Gül, and it was understood that they had taken part in incidents such as extortion of 50,000 DM from Metin Alan, President of Public Works Commission of Saraybahçe Municipality, extortion of $US300,000 from Sami Koçak, the owner of an exchange office, opening fire at the car of Tuncay Reşat Bellisan, and wounding Halil Türkan in Antalya, on the instructions of Özcan.
Kocaeli Security Director Affan Keçeci reported that the names of those detained in the operation along with Özcan, who was caught with a fake IDs in the name of Orhan Can and Turhan Şentürk, were Metin Ali Bağdat, Savaş Uzun, Mehmet İlker Kayış, Muzaffer Osmanlı, Serkan Demirci, Selim Gökkaya, Sahit Sekanlı, Tuncay Çora, Servet Savaş, Şahin Tekdemir, Alaattin Keskin and Ramazan Öztürk. Keçeci stated that, out of those accused of “aiding the gang,” Kayış was police officer on duty at Bursa and Öztürk was a retired captain. He also said that 4 high-level security officers had been revealed to have connections with the gang. Keçeci listed the following murders among the incidents that the members of the gang were claimed to have been involved in: The killings of Sürmeli and Fehmi Göçer and Nizamettin Keskin at Köse- köy in August 1994, of Şaban Kurtuluş 15 days after that, of Reşat Yüksel on the TEM highway in August 1995, of Kader Yılmaz in February 1995, and of Muzaffer Yüksel in March 1995.
Özcan, who had previously been tried in 19 cases and who had been acquitted once and released twice, and Savaş, Muzaffer and Seyfettin Uzun and Mehmet Ali Bağdatlı were not released in the course of the trial. The trial is continuing at İstanbul SSC.
Ali Rıza Gürbüz, the owner of a tourism agency named ‘Alibaba Reisen’ in Switzerland, who had been an candidate from the MHP in 24 December 1995 general election, was captured