Hanefi Avcı (born 1956,

Kahramanmaraş Province Kahramanmaraş Province kurdish( tr, Kahramanmaraş ili ) is a province of Turkey. Its provincial capital is the city of Kahramanmaraş, the traffic code is 46. Geography Kahramanmaraş is traversed by the northeasterly line of equal latitude and ...

) is a former chief of police in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

,biografie.net
Hanefi Avcı
/ref>Hanefi Avci: ''Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar: Dün Devlet Bugün Cemaat'' (English: ‘Devotee’ Residents of Haliç: Yesterday State, Today Religious Congregation). Angora Yayınevi, 18th Edition 2010, and author of the best-selling book ''Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar'', in which Avcı claimed that the

Gülen movement The Gülen movement ( tr, Gülen hareketi), referred to by its participants as Hizmet ("service") or Cemaat ("community") and since 2016 by the Government of Turkey as FETÖ ("Fethullahist Terrorist Organisation" or, more commonly, "Fethullah T ...

had infiltrated the police and manipulated key trials such as the

Ergenekon trials The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist ...

through judges and prosecutors close to the movement. Avcı, a conservative Islamist, was himself once close to the movement, and his children were educated in a Gülen school. Avcı, who in the 1990s testified to parliament in relation to the

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 ...

and in 2009 to prosecutors about the mafia links of the

Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

organization, was the first Turkish state official to confirm the existence of the

Turkish Gendarmerie The Gendarmerie General Command ( tr, Jandarma Genel Komutanlığı) is the national Gendarmerie force of the Republic of Turkey. It is a service branch of the Turkish Ministry of Interior responsible for the maintenance of the public order in a ...

JITEM Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele or Jandarma İstihbarat Teşkilatı (abbr. ''JİTEM'' or ''JİT''; English: "Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism" or "Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization") is the unofficial and illegal intel ...

intelligence unit. Shortly after publishing the book, Avcı was arrested, accused of leaking information to the nominally Marxist-Leninist

Devrimci Karargâh Devrimci Karargâh ( en, Revolutionary Headquarters) was a nominally Marxist-Leninism, Marxist-Leninist organization in Turkey. DK first came to public attention in April 2009, when some of its members were involved in a six-hour gun battle with ...

. Later he was additionally charged with being connected with the

Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

organization, in the

odatv case The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist ...

Career

From 1976 to 1984 he was active in the police in

Mersin Province Mersin Province ( tr, ), formerly İçel Province ( tr, ), is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital and the biggest city in the province is Mersin, which is composed of fo ...

, involved in anti-terror operations. During this time he was responsible for several deaths by torture; in 1997 he met some of his torture victims and apologised. From 1984 to 1992 he worked in the police in Diyarbakir, before being appointed the head of the Istanbul Intelligence Branch (''İstanbul İstihbarat Şube Müdürlüğü'') in 1992. He was promoted to Vice President of the Intelligence Department (''İstihbarat Daire Başkan Yardımcılığı'') in 1996.hanefiavci.com
Hanefi Avcı
/ref> His statements to the parliamentary commission investigating the

, on the links between the police, intelligence services and organised crime saw him suspended from the police; he was later reinstated. In 2003 he was appointed head of the Police Department of Smuggling and Organised Crime. According to Avcı, he was too successful in this position, and as a result was moved to Police Chief of

Edirne Province Edirne Province ( tr, ) is a Turkish province located in East Thrace. Part of European Turkey, it is one of only three provinces located entirely within continental Europe. Edirne Province is bordered by Tekirdağ Province and Kırklareli Pr ...

in 2005. After uncovering a police corruption scandal in Edirne, he was moved to become Police Chief of

Eskişehir Province Eskişehir Province ( tr, ) is a province in northwestern Turkey. Its adjacent provinces are Bilecik to the northwest, Kütahya to the west, Afyon to the southwest, Konya to the south, Ankara to the east, and Bolu to the north. The provincial ...

in 2009. In 2009 he told prosecutors in the

that state officials in the police,

, and

National Intelligence Organization The National Intelligence Organization ( tr, Millî İstihbarat Teşkilatı, MİT) is the state intelligence agency of Turkey. Established in 1965 to replace National Security Service, its aim is to gather information about the current and po ...

had formed a "mafia-like" organization which used the war against the

PKK The Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK is a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed guerrilla warfare, guerrilla List of guerrilla movements, movement, which historically operated throughout Kurdistan, but is now primarily based ...

as an opportunity for profit. He said

Veli Küçük Veli Küçük (born 9 May 1944, Türkmen, Gölpazarı, Bilecik, TurkeyToday's Zaman, 16 June 2009Ultranationalist Ergenekon suspect is of Armenian origin, magazine reveals/ref>) is a retired Turkish brigadier-general. He is thought to be the foun ...

, a key suspect in the trials, had links to known mafia leaders.

Book and arrest

In 2010 he published the auto-biographical book ''Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar: Dün Devlet Bugün Cemaat'', which covered various aspects of the " deep state" in Turkey, including the

Ergenekon Ergenekon (sometimes spelled ''Ergeneqon'', mn, Эргүнэ хун, Ergüne khun) is a founding myth of Turkic and Mongolic peoples.

organization and the

's infiltration of the police. Avcı's book claimed that the Gülen movement had highly placed people with privileged access to wire taps, and would publish information obtained this way when it suited it. He said he was one of those wire-tapped. Hurriyet Daily News, 26 August 2010
Police chief talks on live TV about claims against Gülen community
/ref> The book also said that various high-profile investigations, including the

and the Sledgehammer trial, were being manipulated by the Gülen movement through judges and prosecutors associated with the movement. The book was a best-seller. Hurriyet Daily News, 28 September 2010
Former Turkish police chief Hanefi Avcı arrested
/ref> The book received "conflicting reactions" in the Turkish media. In September 2010 Avcı was arrested and accused of links with the terrorist group

, which he denies, saying that he had "been expecting these kinds of defamations". He was accused of using a phone line belonging to Necdet Kılıç, an alleged Devrimci Karargâh member. Kılıç said he knew Avcı only because Avcı had tortured him in the 1970s when Kılıç was accused of membership of the short-lived THKP-C. He was also accused of passing secret information relating to investigation of DK to Kılıç, based on evidence found in Avcı's office; Avcı said it had been planted. In 2011 he was additionally charged as part of the

Odatv case The Ergenekon trials were a series of high-profile trials which took place on 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Ergenekon, a suspected secularist ...

of the

, on the basis of documents allegedly found at odatv. At around the same time a request for an

Article 301 Article 301 is an article of the Turkish Penal Code making it illegal to insult Turkey, the Turkish nation, Turkish government institutions, or Turkish national heroes such as Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. It took effect on June 1, 2005, and was introdu ...

trial in connection with his book was denied. In 2013 prosecutors demanded a 50-year prison sentence. Hurriyet Daily News, 4 February 2013
Prosecutor demands 50 years for former police intelligence chief
/ref> In July 2013 Avcı was convicted of aiding a terrorist organisation and of trying to influence a trial with his book, and sentenced to 15 years 3 months.

Today's Zaman ''Today's Zaman'' (Zaman is Turkish for 'time' or 'age') was an English-language daily newspaper based in Turkey. Established on 17 January 2007, it was the English-language edition of the Turkish daily '' Zaman.'' ''Today's Zaman'' included dom ...

, 19 July 2013
Former police chief Avcı sentenced to 15 years on terror charges
/ref>

Bibliography

* Hanefi Avcı, ''Haliç’te Yaşayan Simonlar: Dün Devlet Bugün Cemaat'', Angora Yayıncılık, 2010 *

Mehmet Baransu Mehmet Baransu (born 1977) is a Kurdish journalist and author from Turkey. He is a correspondent for ''Taraf'', and previously worked for ''Aksiyon'' (1997–2000). He is the winner of a 2009 Sedat Simavi Journalism Award. Known for invest ...

, ''Mösyö: Hanefi Avcı’nın Yazamadıkları'', Karakutu Yayınları, 2010. * İsmail Saymaz, ''Hanefi Yoldaş: Gizli Örgüt Nasıl Çökertilir?'', Kalkedon Yayıncılık, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Avci, Hanefi 1956 births Turkish police chiefs Turkish writers Prisoners and detainees of Turkey Turkish people imprisoned on charges of terrorism Living people

Career

Book and arrest

Bibliography

See also

References