The Söylemez Gang was an
organized crime organization in
Turkey headed by Faysal Söylemez and five of his brothers, which was involved in drug smuggling, kidnapping, and murder. Its activities were first revealed in 1996, with the arrest of 25 members. The gang included serving police and military officers. The gang was exposed in June 1996, and gang members were found with large quantities of explosives and rocket launchers.
Overview
The head of the gang was helicopter officer Faysal Söylemez, and among the top officials involved in the gang are the former deputy chief of Istanbul Police,
Deniz Gökçetin, and the former head of Istanbul Security branch,
Sedat Demir.
According to government reports, the Söylemez Gang had arms, explosives, DM 186,500 and TL 155,200,000.
The Soylemez Brothers gang were caught in June 1996 with plans to raid the headquarters of the Bucak clan in
Siverek
Siverek (from hy, Սեւավերակ, lit=black ruins, translit=Sevaverag, ku, Sêwreg) is a city and district in the south-east of Turkey, in Şanlıurfa Province. Population 107,634 (city); 247,000 (district) (2000 census). Siverek is in Şanl ...
, Urfa. The head of the Bucak clan was the
True Path Party (DYP) member of parliament
Sedat Bucak
Sedat Edip Bucak (born 31 October 1960 in Siverek) is a Zaza politician and the leader of the Bucak tribe in Siverek, Şanlıurfa Province, Turkey. In the 1990s, he was a member of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. He survived the 1996 Sus ...
, the only survivor of the November 1996
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 mult ...
. The blood feud between the Bucaks and the Söylemez gang is allegedly based on the control of arms and drugs trafficking in Turkey and particularly in the South East.
[
In 1997/8 several gang members including Faysal were sentenced to 18-30 years in prison. Two leading members of the gang were arrested in Azerbaijan in 2010, with the assistance of Interpol.]['' Zaman'', 15 September 2010]
Faysal Söylemez, 6 yıl sonra hakim karşısında
/ref>
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soylemez Brothers
Organized crime groups in Turkey
Susurluk scandal
1996 in Turkey
1996 crimes in Europe