Gangster's arrest exposes links between Turkish crime and state

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Friday August 28, 1998

Gangster's arrest exposes links between Turkish crime and state

By Chris Morris in Ankara

Turkey is bracing itself for fresh revelations of political wrongdoing,
after the emergence of new evidence of links between the state and
rightwing gangs.

The latest twist in a long-running security scandal resembles the plot
of a thriller. One of the country's most wanted men, a vicious rightwing
extremist named Alaattin Cakici, was arrested last week in the south of
France. He was carrying a diplomatic passport, which the government says
was given to him by a Turkish intelligence agent serving in Beijing.

Mr Cakici is wanted in connection with a series of murders and extortion
rackets. When he was arrested a notebook was seized which apparently
contained the telephone numbers of many powerful people in Turkey -
politicians, intelligence officers and senior policemen.

It has already been revealed that Mr Cakici was in contact with Eyup
Asik, a minister who is a close ally of the prime minister, Mesut
Yilmaz. Mr Asik has denied any wrongdoing.

There have also been suggestions that the gangster had close ties with
politicians now in opposition. Local media report a war breaking out in
the higher echelons of the intelligence services, but it is still not
clear who the real political masters are.

Allegations that rightwing death squads were employed by the state to
kill political opponents and business rivals first emerged two years
ago, when a car carrying a wanted mafia boss, a government MP and a
senior police officer crashed in the western town of Susurluk.

Only the MP survived, but official documents bearing the signature of
the then interior minister were found in the wreckage. The former
minister and the MP now face criminal charges of abuse of power. Turkish
newspapers have for days carried banner headlines about the arrest of Mr
Cakici and its consequences. The authorities have begun trying to
extradite him from France to stand trial at home. He is not the only
rightwing extremist to have been taken into custody in the past few
weeks. Many observers here believe this could mean that official
protection for criminals who have served the state in dubious ways could
be ending.

"Two leading gangsters have been captured abroad, and a third has
returned to Turkey to face his punishment," the national police chief,
Necati Bilican, said. "The noose has tightened and we will not give up
the pursuit."

The national security council, which includes senior ministers and
powerful generals, said this week that it is determined to pursue the
struggle against organised crime.
© Copyright Guardian Media Group plc.1998


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