<http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,437234,00.html>
Turkey jails spy and ex-police chief for running hit squad
Chris Morris in Istanbul Tuesday February 13, 2001 The Guardian
A court in Turkey yesterday jailed a former police chief and a leading intelligence agent for six years each for their part in a complex conspiracy which linked senior state officials to political murders carried out by criminal gangs. The former head of police special forces, Ibrahim Sahin, and a senior intelligence agent, Korkut Eken, were both found guilty of forming and running a criminal gang with the aim of "creating panic in society". Eleven others were also found guilty of lesser offences after a long trial and were jailed for four years each.
The Turkish public has long been convinced that there was a clear link between the state and the nationalist mafia, but these are the first convictions arising from the scandal in the wake of a car crash in the western town of Susurluk in November 1996.
The crash killed a senior police officer, a gangster and a former beauty queen. An MP who was also in the car - and who works closely with the security forces in mainly Kurdish south-eastern Turkey - survived.
Incriminating documents and weapons found in the wreckage soon forced the interior minister to resign.
What followed was an unprecedented campaign of public protest against corruption and abuse of power in high places. The official report into what became known as the Susurluk affair painted a murky picture of state security agencies using nationalist criminal gangs to kill their political opponents.
Among those killed were leftwing journalists and Kurdish activists. In return, the gangs were allowed to smuggle drugs and run extortion operations, laundering many of the profits through a chain of casinos.
Elements within the police and the intelligence agencies also used the extensive powers given to them in the fight against Kurdish rebels to commit crimes of their own.
The Susurluk report aired allegations that the Turkish secret service, Mit, took part in a failed coup attempt against President Heydar Aliyev of Azerbaijan in 1995, and in an abortive alliance with Israel's Mossad to try to kill the Kurdish rebel leader, Abdullah Ocalan, while he was in Syria.
Now, four years after the car crash, some of those involved are being made to take the blame. But critics believe that others - including politicians - are being allowed to go free.
"This verdict only says there was a gang," Sema Piskinsut, a deputy who served on a committee investigating links between the underworld and the state, said. "But what did it do, who did it work for? Parliament should find out who was politically responsible."
The Susurluk Affair was significant because it sparked genuine fears among ordinary Turks that gangs within the state had been given unfettered control, and could be a threat to democracy. Suspicion of what Turks call "deep state links" is still extremely strong.
The end of the trial comes amid fears of a renewed effort to destabilise the south-east, which is now enjoying its most peaceful period for years.
Two leading members of the pro-Kurdish political party, Hadep, disappeared late last month in Silopi after being asked to visit the local gendarmerie headquarters.
Even though the Kurdish rebel movement, the PKK, has largely withdrawn from the south-east, many believe that powerful forces in Turkey still have an interest in maintaining a tight security blanket across the region.
The south-east is the hub of a massive smuggling business involving drugs and human migrants. The hugely profitable trade is run by powerful criminal gangs, with the backing of renegade elements within the state - exactly the same combination which sparked the Susurluk scandal in the first place.