Castle Plan
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Castle Plan
The Castle Plan ( tr, Kale Planı) was a Turkish government plan to widen the range of means used to fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). This included using the resources of the Counter-Guerrilla, such as the Grey Wolves, as well as police and army units such as JITEM and the Special Forces Command, to assassinate PKK members and supporters. The plan was approved by the National Security Council under President Turgut Özal and Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel, but not put into effect immediately due to the opposition of Özal and Eşref Bitlis, the Commander of the Gendarmerie of Turkey.Michael M. Gunter (1998): "Susurluk: The connection between turkey's intelligence community and organized crime", International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, 11:2, 119-141 Özal in particular favoured attempts to move forward the peace process, which produced the PKK's first cease-fire declaration on 20 March 1993. Eşref Bitlis died in a suspicious plane crash on 17 Fe ...
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Kurdish–Turkish Conflict
Kurdish nationalism, Kurdish nationalist uprisings have periodically occurred in Turkey, beginning with the Turkish War of Independence and the consequent transition from the Ottoman Empire to the modern Turkish state and continuing to the present day with the Kurdish–Turkish conflict (1978–present), current PKK–Turkey conflict. According to Ottoman military records, Timeline of Kurdish uprisings, Kurdish rebellions have been occurring in Anatolia for over two centuries, While large tribal Kurdish revolts had shaken the Ottoman Empire during the last decades of its existence, the modern phase of the conflict is believed to have begun in 1922, with the emergence of Kurdish nationalism which occurred in parallel with the formation of the modern State of Turkey. In 1925, an Sheikh Said rebellion, uprising for an independent Kurdistan, led by Sheikh Said, Shaikh Said Piran, was quickly put down , and soon afterward, Said and 36 of his followers were executed. Other large-scale ...
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Doğu Çalışma Grubu
The Doğu Çalışma Grubu (DÇG; en, East Study Group or East Working Group) was an alleged group within the Turkish military said to be linked to the Ergenekon organization, and possibly organised within the Turkish Gendarmerie's JITEM.dunyabulteni.net, 29 January 2009Jitem'in Doğu Çalışma Grubu deşifre edildi/ref> According to former PKK commander Şemdin Sakık, the group was formed in 1993 and carried out a number of assassinations in preparation for the 1993 alleged Turkish military coup. According to Sakık, these assassinations included (in 1993) President Turgut Özal, former Major Cem Ersever, former Turkish Gendarmerie general commander Eşref BitlisToday's Zaman, 6 November 2012Secret witness reveals identity, shady ties between PKK and Ergenekon and General Bahtiyar Aydın.Today's Zaman, 1 June 2012Ex-PKK commander Sakık blames military junta for deaths of 33 soldiers Turgut Özal died in office on 17 April 1993 in suspicious circumstances and few and a month ...
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Susurluk Scandal
The Susurluk scandal () was a scandal involving the close relationship among the deep state in Turkey, the Grey Wolves and the Turkish mafia. It took place during the peak of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict, in the mid-1990s. The relationship came into existence after the National Security Council (NSC) posited the need for the marshaling of the state's resources to combat the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). The scandal surfaced with a car–truck collision on 3 November 1996, near Susurluk, in the province of Balıkesir. The victims included the deputy chief of the Istanbul Police Department, a Member of Parliament, and Abdullah Çatlı, the leader of the Grey Wolves and a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (Turkey) (MÄ°T), who was on Interpol's red list at the time of his death. The state had been engaged in an escalating low intensity conflict with the PKK since 1984. The conflict escalated in the early 1990s. Towards the end of 1992, a furious ...
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Susurluk Car Crash
The Susurluk car crash took place on 3 November 1996 in the small town of Susurluk, in Turkey's Balıkesir Province. It resulted in the death of three of the passengers: Abdullah Çatlı, a former ultra-rightist militant wanted by police for multiple murders and drug trafficking; Huseyin Kocadağ, a senior police official; and beauty queen Gonca Us (Çatlı's girlfriend). Sedat Bucak, an MP, escaped with a broken leg and fractured skull. The Susurluk crash was a key event in the unravelling of the deep state in Turkey. The peculiar associations of the crash victims and their links with Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar led to a number of investigations, including a parliamentary investigation, of what became known as the Susurluk scandal. Background Prior to the crash, all the victims, plus Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar, had been staying at the Onura Hotel in Kuşadası. The assassination plan called for Ağar to be killed too. However, he was warned by Sami Hoştan, so he remain ...
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Batman Province
Batman Province ( tr, , ku, Parêzgeha Êlihê) is a province in the Southeast Anatolia Region of Turkey. It was created in May 1990 with the Law No. 3647 taking some parts from the eastern Province of Siirt and some from the southern Province of Mardin. The province's population exceeded 500,000 in 2010. The city of Batman with 460,955 inhabitants, is the provincial capital. Its current Governor is Hulusi Şahin. The province is considered part of Turkish Kurdistan and has a Kurdish majority with a large Arab minority found in the northern parts of the province (Sason and Kozluk) and Hasankeyf. History The Batman Province contains the strategic Tigris river with fertile lands by its sides, as well as rocky hills with numerous caves providing a natural shelter. Therefore, it was inhabited from prehistoric times, likely from the Neolithic ( Paleolithic) period, according to archeological evidence. First documented evidence of settlements in the province dates back to 7th centu ...
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Kurdish Hizbollah (Turkey)
Kurdish Hezbollah ( ku, Hizbullahî Kurdî)
, turkishweekly.net
known in Turkey as Hizbullah,Aslı Aydıntaşbaş
Murder on the Bosporus
''Middle East Quarterly'', June 2000, pp. 15–22, Meforum.org. Retrieved on 2011-02-09.
and known among Kurds as Sofîk is a Kurds, Kurdish Sunni Islamist militant organization,German Jihad: On the Internationalisation of Islamist Terrorism by Guido Steinberg. Columbia University Press, 2013 https://books.google.com/books?id=RVY4AAAAQBAJ&q=Hizbullah active against Turkey, and the Kurdistan Workers' Party, PKK ...
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Le Monde Diplomatique
''Le Monde diplomatique'' (meaning "The Diplomatic World" in French) is a French monthly newspaper offering analysis and opinion on politics, culture, and current affairs. The publication is owned by Le Monde diplomatique SA, a subsidiary company of ''Le Monde'' which grants it complete editorial autonomy. Worldwide there were 71 editions in 26 other languages (including 38 in print for a total of about 2.2 million copies and 33 electronic editions). History 1954–1989 ''Le Monde diplomatique'' was founded in 1954 by Hubert Beuve-Méry, founder and director of ''Le Monde'', the French newspaper of record. Subtitled the "organ of diplomatic circles and of large international organisations," 5,000 copies were distributed, comprising eight pages, dedicated to foreign policy and geopolitics. Its first editor in chief, François Honti, developed the newspaper as a scholarly reference journal. Honti attentively followed the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement, created out of the 1955 ...
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Ömer Lütfü Topal
Ömer Lütfü Topal, sometimes spelled Lütfi (1942 – July 28, 1996), was a Turkish businessman, who was deeply involved in the Susurluk scandal. He had convictions for drug smuggling, and was dubbed the "casino king" for the gambling ventures that made his later fortune, which amounted to around $1 billion at the time of his assassination. Background He was born in Doğanşehir, Malatya Province to Mahmut Topal. Life He has a criminal record at the İstanbul Police for the years 1962, 1969 and 1971 for threatening people and forcing them to sign debt bills, stabbing, injury, beating and murder. Drug smuggling According to Belgian newspapers, he was arrested on June 20, 1978, in Antwerp province of Belgium while carrying 6 kilos of heroin. A fake passport was found on him on the name of Sadık Sami Onar, issued by the Gaziantep Police. Besides, he was accused of drug transfer to the United States over Belgium. He was imprisoned in Belgium between June 14, 1978, and July 23, 1 ...
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Behçet Cantürk
Behçet Cantürk (1950, Lice – January 14, 1994, Sapanca) was a Kurdish mob boss. His main activity was involvement in the illegal drug trade. 1970s Behçet's mother, Hatun Demirciyan, was an Armenian from Lice district. His father was named Reşit. Starting in 1975, Cantürk became a partner of some smugglers by providing money for them. In 1975, he participated in organizing the protest rally in Lice, Diyarbakır held by the Progressive Youth Association (İGD) and financially supported the rally. In the same year, he received a medical report through bribes from Konya Military Hospital certifying that he was not suitable for military service. In 1977 he started arms trafficking. 1980s Between 1981 and 1983, he was involved in the smuggling of gold and diamonds with the help of jewelers of Armenian and Syriac origin in the Grand Bazaar of İstanbul. In 1983, when Dündar Kılıç and İsmail Hacısüleymanoğlu started to put pressure on the non-Muslim and Diyarbakır-bor ...
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Abdullah Çatlı
Abdullah Çatlı (1 June 1956 – 3 November 1996) was a Turkish secret government agent, as well as a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (MİT). He led the Grey Wolves, the youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), during the 1970s. His death in the Susurluk car crash, while travelling in a car with state officials, revealed the depth of the state's complicity in organized crime in what became known as the Susurluk scandal. He was a hitman for the state, and was involved in the killings of suspected members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). Career He grew up in Nevşehir, a small province in Central Anatolia. Çatlı was familiar with the views of the far right MHP and Turkish ultra-nationalists. 1978–1984 Çatlı was responsible, along with Haluk Kırcı and several other MHP members, for the 9 October 1978 Bahçelievler Massacre in which seven university students, ...
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European Court Of Human Rights
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR or ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights. The court hears applications alleging that a contracting state has breached one or more of the human rights enumerated in the Convention or its optional protocols to which a member state is a party. The European Convention on Human Rights is also referred to by the initials "ECHR". The court is based in Strasbourg, France. An application can be lodged by an individual, a group of individuals, or one or more of the other contracting states. Aside from judgments, the court can also issue advisory opinions. The convention was adopted within the context of the Council of Europe, and all of its 46 member states are contracting parties to the convention. Russia, having been expelled from the Council of Europe as of 16 March 2022, ceased to be a party to the convention with effect from 1 ...
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