Turkish mafia suspect's capture rekindles scandal

[ozgurluk at xs4all.nl]

_________________________________________________________________

        TURKISH MAFIA SUSPECT'S CAPTURE REKINDLES SCANDAL
_________________________________________________________________

     06:09 a.m. Aug 23, 1998 Eastern
     By Jon Hemming

     ANKARA, Aug 23 (Reuters) - The capture of Turkey's most
wanted Mafia suspect has rekindled a two-year-old security
scandal which has rocked the country with allegations of ties
between organised crime and the state.*

     French police seized suspected Mafia boss Alaattin Cakici, a
bodyguard and a female companion as they were leaving a luxury
hotel in Nice last week.

     Turkey's top policeman has said the arrest could stir up the
scandal again. Cakici was carrying a Turkish diplomatic passport,
suggesting his alleged campaign of murder and extortion was being
aided from above.

     ``This is bigger than the Susurluk scandal,'' national
police chief Necati Bilican was quoted as saying in the newspaper
Sabah.

     Allegations that right-wing death squads were employed by
the state to kill political enemies and business rivals emerged
after a car carrying a senior policeman, a wanted Mafia boss and
a government MP crashed near the town of Susurluk in 1996.

     Only the MP survived the crash. Prosecutions of him, a
former interior minister and a number of other people have yet to
lift the lid fully on state-Mafia links.

     Cakici, a former far-right gang member, is accused of
extortion, involvement in illegal property deals and ordering
several murders, including that of his ex-wife and business
partners.

     Turkish media, quoting sources close to Cakici, say he will
name names at a court appearance in France on Monday and point
the finger at Turkish political figures he says once protected
him.

     Turkey's National Security Council will meet on the same day
to discuss Cakici's arrest and an application for his extradition
from France. Reports of clandestine phone calls from Cakici to
cabinet ministers have added to the intrigue.

     ``Everything will come out during the investigation. Now
everyone is afraid that they will also be exposed,'' Bilican
said.

     Columnist Ismet Berkan wrote in the liberal newspaper
Radikal: ``The capture of Alaattin Cakici has made a lot of
people nervous in Turkey.''

     Bilican said the Turkish diplomatic passport found at
Cakici's five-star French Riviera hideout was genuine but had
been tampered with.

     A notebook seized with him listed the telephone numbers of
Turkish intelligence agents, politicians and senior policemen,
the police chief said.

     Bilican, appointed last year by Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz
to clear up the scandal, said the operation to capture Cakici had
to be carried out in the utmost secrecy to avoid the fugitive
being tipped off about the plan.

     ``We worked in great secrecy in a very narrow team. No one
knew what we were doing,'' he said.

     Observers say people keen on frustrating attempts to clean
up the state are still influential in the corridors of power.

     ``Don't forget since he came to office, there have been a
full four attempts to remove Bilican. His every move has been
opposed with great resistance,'' Berkan wrote.

     Many regard the arrest of Cakici as a sign that things may
be changing and those wishing to see an end to the state's
protection of criminals are in the ascendant.

     Another alleged underworld boss, Sedat Peker, flew to
Istanbul on a private jet from exile in Romania last week and
gave himself up to police. A third accused Mafia godfather Kursat
Yilmaz had also been caught.

     ``Alaattin Cakici, Kursat Yilmaz, Sedat Peker are people on
the inside of the Susurluk events,'' said Bilican. ``All three
thought they could flee abroad and be safe. Two were captured and
third had to return to Turkey as the noose tightened around him
... This is Susurluk. We will not give up the pursuit.''

-- 
Press Agency Ozgurluk
For justice, democracy and human rights in Turkey and Kurdistan!
Website: http://www.ozgurluk.org                          
mailto:ozgurluk at xs4all.nl / mailinglists: petidomo at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl
List info: english-request at ozgurluk.xs4all.nl