Veli Küçük (born 9 May 1944, Türkmen,

Gölpazarı Gölpazarı is a town and district of Bilecik Province in the Marmara region of Turkey. The mayor is Vedat Kazıcı ( CHP). Features Gölpazarı is a small town with 11,424 population. Despite its proximity to the most important metropolises of T ...

Bilecik Bilecik is the provincial capital of Turkey's Bilecik Province which is located in northwestern Anatolia. As of 2015 urban population of the city is 64,531. The mayor is Semih Şahin ( CHP). The town is famous for its numerous restored Turki ...

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 ...

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 ...

, 16 June 2009
Ultranationalist Ergenekon suspect is of Armenian origin, magazine reveals
/ref>) is a retired

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

brigadier-general. He is thought to be the founder of the

JİTEM 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 arm 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 ...

, and is accused by the Turkish government of being the head of the

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

organization, based on testimony by

Tuncay Güney Tuncay Güney (; born 25 August 1972 in Kargı For details, sefolder 398of the indictment's annex.), code name "Ipek" (silk), is a Turkish citizen of Dönmeh Jewish origin who claims to have infiltrated the Turkish Gendarmerie's intelligence org ...

. He was arrested in January 2008, and on 5 August 2013, sentenced to two consecutive life sentences.

Career

Küçük graduated from the

Turkish Military Academy The Turkish Military Academy ( tr, Kara Harp Okulu) is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defence University. It is located in the center of Ankara, Turkey. Its mission is to develop cadets mentally and ph ...

in 1965. He was promoted to Brigadier-General in 1996, and retired on 30 August 2000. Küçük is thought to be the founder of the

intelligence arm of the

Susurluk

Küçük is said to be the last person to have spoken to

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 ...

before his death in the 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 ...

, and to have communicated extensively with Çatlı,

Drej Ali Ali Yasak (born 1956), better known as Drej Ali (literally: Ali, the tall), is one of Turkey's most renowned criminals. He was involved in the Susurluk scandal. On December 19, 1977, he was elected a board member of the Urfa Branch of the Ideali ...

and Sami Hoştan.

Ergenekon

Küçük was accused by the Turkish government of being the head of the

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

organisation, based on testimony by

. Hurriyet Daily News, 15 January 2009
Key testimony handed to defense
/ref> He was arrested in January 2008.

, 17 December 2008
Cross examination silences retired Gen. Veli Küçük
/ref>

Cem Ersever Ahmet Cem Ersever (1950 – 4 November 1993) was a commander in the Turkish Gendarmerie, and said to be one of the founders of the Gendarmerie's JITEM intelligence unit. He was assassinated in November 1993.) is a retired Turkish brigadier-genera ...

's archive was found in Küçük's house.

, 13 August 2008
Ergenekon indictment reopens gendarmerie major’s murder case
Küçük is said to have close links with

Alparslan Arslan Alparslan Arslan (born 1977 in Kiğı) is a Turkish criminal convicted for murdering Council of State (Turkey), Council of State member Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin, and wounding four others. He also took part in the bombing of the newspaper ''Cumhuriy ...

, the shooter in the 2006

Turkish Council of State shooting The Turkish Council of State shooting occurred on 17 May 2006. Alparslan Arslan entered the Council of State building in Ankara and shot five judges, killing judge Mustafa Yücel Özbilgin. Arslan was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2008. Incid ...

. During the Ergenekon trials both Muzaffer Tekin and Oktay Yıldırım kissed Küçük's hand in court, as a traditional sign of respect. On 5 August 2013 he was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. He was released on 11 March 2014 by the 4th High Criminal Court. On 21 April 2016, the 16th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the decision of the Istanbul 13th High Criminal Cour

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kucuk, Veli 1944 births Living people People from Gölpazarı Turkish generals Turkish Military Academy alumni Susurluk scandal People convicted in the Ergenekon trials Inmates of Silivri Prison