An Accident Reveals the Complicity of the Turkish State with the Mafia

by Kani Xulam

Tuesday, November 12, 1996

It was a luxurious Mercedes Benz. There were four passengers in it. One was a Kurd. The other three were Turks. One of the three was a woman. One was a fugitive. The last person was the president of a Police Academy in Istanbul.

On Sunday, November 3, 1996, a truck hit the car they were driving in Susurluk, a town in western Turkey. The sole Kurd survived. The Turkish woman and the other two passengers died. The next day when the true identities of these individuals became clear, people in Turkey began to ask why these four were in the same car.

Now that the dust has settled some sobering facts have surfaced. The surviving Kurd is Sedat Bucak, a member of the Turkish parliament and the head of Bucak tribe in Turkish controlled Kurdistan. He is a darling of the Turks for declaring a war on rebel Kurds. His forces control the Siverek Valley between the cities of Diyarbakir and Urfa. He has some 8,000 mercenaries, all Kurds.

Huseyin Kocadag, the president of Eroge Police Academy was also the former deputy Chief of Police for Istanbul, Turkey. His name is closely linked with the creation of the counter-insurgency group called "Special Teams." A crack civilian unit operating in Kurdistan, these "Contra Guerrillas" specialize in inflicting death and suffering on unsuspecting Kurds. He has done a "good" job. Amnesty International has just undertaken a worldwide campaign to expose his crimes.

The other passengers were Abdullah Catli, and his girl friend, Gonca Us. Mr. Catli first came into the limelight on March 9, 1978. On that day, he allegedly strangled seven university students for being members of Turkish Labor Party. The Turkish court found him guilty as charged in absencia and the Interpol put him on their list of most wanted criminals. While on the run, a few years later, he was also alleged to have helped Mehmet Ali Agca in his attempt to assassinate the Pope, John Paul II.

The Italian prosecutor, Antonio Marini, wanted to interview Mr. Catli. He was nowhere to be found. But when the news of his presence in the company of one of the highest Turkish security officials reached Mr. Marini's office, in Rome, he was flabbergasted. Apparently, the Swiss police have equally been dumfounded. The latter case, on the other hand, stems from a charge that Mr. Catli was selling drugs in Switzerland.

At the scene of the accident Abdullah Catli had a false identification card on him. He had the name Mehmet Ozbay and the badge of a police officer in his pocket. On him, there was another coveted document, a Turkish passport, a green one that is usually issued to senior civil servants obviating the need for visa requirements. In the trunk, there was an arsenal; guns, silencers and ammunition.

Gonca Us, Mr. Catli's companion, was a former Miss Cinema in Turkey. According to the press accounts, her relationship with Mr. Catli had turned her into a Mafia hitwoman.

If anyone was looking for evidence of Turkish government complicity with organized crime, the accident in Susurluk unequivocally revealed the nature of this unholy alliance. For the fugitive that was captured dead, one wonders how many others are roaming around. Human Rights organizations note with alarm the killings and the disappearances of thousands of Kurds in Turkey. They are urging for sanctions both military and economic. One wonders, when will their governments hear and heed.