Turkish secret government agent
Abdullah Catlı
|
---|
|
Born
| (
1956-06-01
)
1 June 1956
|
---|
Died
| 3 November 1996
(1996-11-03)
(aged 40)
|
---|
Resting place
| Nev?ehir Kaldırım Cemetery
|
---|
Occupation(s)
| M?T
agent, espionage
|
---|
Spouse
| Meral Aydo?an (1974?1996)
|
---|
|
Abdullah Catlı
(1 June 1956 ? 3 November 1996) was a Turkish secret government agent,
[1]
[2]
[3]
as well as a
contract killer
for the
National Intelligence Organization
(M?T).
[4]
[5]
He led the
Grey Wolves
, the youth branch of the
Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP), during the 1970s. His death in the
Susurluk car crash
, while travelling in a car with state officials,
[6]
revealed the depth of the state's complicity in
organized crime
in what became known as the
Susurluk scandal
. He was a hitman for the state, and was involved in the killings of suspected members of the
Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK) and the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia
(ASALA).
Career
[
edit
]
Catlı was born to a
Turkish
family in
Nev?ehir
. He grew up in
Nev?ehir
, a small province in
Central Anatolia
. Catlı was familiar with the views of the
far right
MHP and Turkish ultra-nationalists.
1978?1984
[
edit
]
Catlı was responsible, along with
Haluk Kırcı
and several other MHP members, for the 9 October 1978
Bahcelievler Massacre
in which seven university students, members of the
Workers Party of Turkey
(TIP), were murdered.
[1]
[7]
He is also said to have helped
Mehmet Ali A?ca
murder the left-wing newspaper editor
Abdi ?pekci
on 1 February 1979, in Istanbul.
[8]
According to investigative journalist
Lucy Komisar
, Catlı "reportedly helped organize A?ca's escape from an Istanbul military prison, and some have suggested Catlı was even involved in the
1981 Pope's assassination attempt
".
[8]
In February 1982, he was caught with heroin in Switzerland, but he managed to escape detention.
[9]
In 1998 the magazine
Monde diplomatique
alleged that Abdullah Catlı had organized the assassination attempt "in exchange for the sum of 3 million
German mark
" for the
Grey Wolves
.
[2]
In 1985 in Rome, Catlı declared to a judge "that he had been contacted by the
BND
, the German intelligence agency, promised him a nice sum of money if he implicated the Russian and Bulgarian services in the assassination attempt against
the Pope
".
[6]
Catlı then went to France, where, under the alias of Hasan Kurto?lu, he planned a series of attacks (18 in France and the rest in
Yugoslavia
, Lebanon, Germany, Canada, the US and Austria) on Armenian interests and on the
ASALA
, with help from M?T. These included the
Alfortville Armenian Genocide Memorial Bombing
on 3 May 1984 and the attempted murder of activist
Ara Toranian
.
[2]
[10]
1984?1996
[
edit
]
The
Turkish intelligence service
(MIT) paid Catlı in heroin, and he was eventually arrested in Paris on 24 October 1984 for drug trafficking. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment and in 1988 he was handed over to Switzerland, where he was also wanted on charges of drug dealing. However, he escaped Bostadel prison
[9]
in March 1990 with the assistance of the Grey Wolves. After he returned to Turkey, he appeared to have been recruited by the police, while also officially been sentenced to death in absentia by the Turkish authorities for several murders.
[11]
Turkish Prime Minister
Tansu Ciller
declared on 4 October 1993: "We know the list of businessmen and artists subjected to racketeering by the
PKK
and we shall be bringing their members to account." Beginning on 14 January 1994, almost a hundred people were kidnapped by commandos wearing uniforms and travelling in police vehicles and then killed somewhere along the road from Ankara to Istanbul. Catlı demanded money from people who were on "Ciller's list", promising to get their names removed. One of his victims,
Behcet Canturk
, was to pay ten million dollars, to which casino king
Omer Lutfu Topal
added a further seventeen million. However, after receiving the money, he then went on to have them kidnapped and killed, and sometimes tortured beforehand.
[2]
According to
Mehmet Eymur
, a team led by Catlı was responsible for the 1995 deaths of Iranian spies
Lazım Esmaeili
and
Askar Simitko
.
[12]
Catlı's fingerprint was also allegedly found on the drum of one of the machine guns used to assassinate Omer Lutfu Topal.
[13]
In 1996, Catlı kidnapped the TV businessman
Mehmet Ali Yaprak
and demanded a ransom of four million
deutschmarks
.
[14]
Death
[
edit
]
Catlı died in a
car crash
on 3 November 1996 in
Susurluk
, a town in the province of
Balıkesir
. Also killed in the crash were
Huseyin Kocada?
, the Director of the Police Academy in Istanbul and Gonca Us (Abdullah Catlı's girlfriend).
[11]
Sedat Bucak
, a Member of Parliament of the
True Path Party
(DYP) for
?anlıurfa
province and a Kurdish
village guards
leader, was the sole person to survive the crash. His militia, funded by the Turkish state, was active against the
Kurdistan Workers' Party
(PKK).
[9]
[11]
The
Susurluk scandal
exposed the
deep state in Turkey
.
[9]
[15]
[11]
At the time of his death, Catlı was a convicted fugitive, wanted for drug trafficking and murder but carried on him 6 different identifications of which one was an official
diplomatic passport
on the name Mehmet Ozbay.
[9]
Alparslan Turke?
, the founder of the Grey Wolves and the
Nationalist Movement Party
(MHP), and a former deputy prime minister of Turkey, admitted to know Catlı had been cooperated with Turkish authorities for the well-being of the state.
[16]
[17]
The Interior Minister
Mehmet A?ar
has signed many of the official documents he had, including the permit to carry firearms.
[18]
After Catlı died, A?ar initially claimed Catlı was probably arrested by the Turkish authorities and been brought to justice until it was discovered that the group had stayed in the same hotel for three days, and it was the same hotel in which A?ar also stayed.
[17]
Following, A?ar resigned.
[17]
Catli was also wanted by the Interpol for having escaped from a Swiss prison.
[11]
Muhsin Yazıcıo?lu
from the far right
Great Union Party
attended his funeral and
Mehmet Ali A?ca
sent flowers from prison in Rome.
[19]
Annual memorial ceremonies are held at his grave, to which also the members of the Grey Wolves attend.
[15]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Catlı's father was Ahmet Catlıo?lu; the "-o?lu" suffix is a
patronymic
. Catlı had a brother, Zeki. Abdullah Catlı married his neighbor Meral Aydo?an on 10 August 1974.
[20]
[21]
On 22 May 1975, they had a daughter named Gokcen, who is currently a doctoral student in politics and international relations.
[22]
Later he had another daughter, Selcen.
[23]
Bibliography
[
edit
]
His daughter Gokcen wrote a biography, referring to diaries stretching back ten years, in order to correct alleged inaccuracies that were circulated after his death.
[24]
Gokcen said "My father had his own understanding of justice. He was trying to achieve this justice with his group on behalf of his nation."
[25]
Another book was written by
Soner Yalcın
and
Do?an Yurdakul
, titled
Reis: Gladio'nun Turk Tetikcisi
("The Chief: Gladio's Turkish Hitman").
[
citation needed
]
Abdullah Catlı in fiction
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
Kinzer, Stephen
(10 December 1996).
"Scandal Links Turkish Aides to Deaths, Drugs and Terror"
.
The New York Times
. pp. A1, A14.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Nezan, Kendal
(5 July 1998).
"Turkey's pivotal role in the international drug trade"
.
Le Monde diplomatique
.
- ^
Kinzer, Stephen (10 December 1996).
"Scandal Links Turkish Aides To Deaths, Drugs and Terror"
.
The New York Times
.
ISSN
0362-4331
. Retrieved
1 April
2020
.
- ^
Jenkins, Gareth
(28 December 2008).
"Susurluk and the Legacy of Turkey's Dirty War"
.
Terrorism Monitor
.
6
(9).
Jamestown Foundation
. Retrieved
28 December
2008
.
...Abdullah Catli, a wanted Mafia hitman and convicted heroin smuggler...
- ^
Korkmaz, Tamer (27 July 2008).
"Kim, kimin nesi oluyor?"
.
Yeni ?afak
(in Turkish)
. Retrieved
28 December
2008
.
Catlı da NATO-ABD orijinli 'Mister Kontrgerilla'nın 'sa?cı' tetikcisiydi.
(
English
Archived
26 June 2015 at the
Wayback Machine
)
- ^
a
b
Lee, Martin A. (1 March 1997).
"Les liaisons dangereuses de la police turque"
.
Le Monde diplomatique
(in French)
. Retrieved
7 October
2022
.
- ^
Yalcın, Soner
; Yurdakul, Do?an (1997). "The Bahcelievler Massacre".
Reis: Gladio'nun Turk Tetikcisi
(in Turkish). Su Yayinlari.
- ^
a
b
Lucy Komisar
(6 April 1997),
The Assassins of a Pope
Archived
11 July 2007 at the
Wayback Machine
,
Albion Monitor
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"TURKEI : Hochachtung vor einem Killer"
.
www.spiegel.de
. October 1997
. Retrieved
1 December
2020
.
- ^
Dundar, Can
(5 December 1996).
"Biraz Daha Gayret, Cozuluyor..."
Milliyet
(in Turkish). Archived from
the original
on 16 October 2007
. Retrieved
23 December
2008
.
Saint-Pierre'in Kurtları
kitabıyla tanıdı?ımız Fransız gazeteci Stoerkel, Abdullah Catlı'nın 1982 yılında ?talyan Gladio ajanı Chiaie ile birlikte Amerikan koruması altında Miami'ye girdi?ini acıklıyordu.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Gunter, Michael M.
(1 June 1998).
"Susurluk: The connection between turkey's intelligence community and organized crime"
.
International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence
.
11
(2): 120.
doi
:
10.1080/08850609808435368
.
ISSN
0885-0607
.
- ^
Today's Zaman
, 8 December 2011,
Mehmet Eymur exposes more of web of dirty liaisons
Archived
15 January 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Hurriyet Daily News
, 16 December 1996,
Turkish Press Scanner
- ^
Sterling, Bruce (10 December 2008).
Tomorrow Now: Envisioning the Next 50 Years
. Random House Publishing Group. p. 144.
ISBN
978-0-307-49199-2
.
- ^
a
b
"Who's who in Politics in Turkey"
(PDF)
.
Heinrich Boll
Stiftung
. pp. 6?7. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on 15 November 2019
. Retrieved
23 July
2020
.
- ^
Yeni Yuzyil
, 5 December 1996. Quoted in
"Turkish Press Scanner"
.
Turkish Daily News
.
Hurriyet
. 6 December 1996. Archived from
the original
on 1 July 2012
. Retrieved
1 January
2009
.
- ^
a
b
c
Gunter, Michael M
. (1 June 1998).p.121
- ^
Park, Bill (October 2008).
"Turkey's Deep State: Ergenekon and the Threat to Democratisation in the Republic"
.
The RUSI Journal
.
153
(5): 54.
doi
:
10.1080/03071840802521937
.
ISSN
0307-1847
.
S2CID
154033736
.
- ^
Hakan Aslaneli and Zafer F. Yoruk (6 November 1996).
"
'Traffic Monster' reveals state-mafia relations"
.
Turkish Daily News
.
Hurriyet
. Archived from
the original
on 14 January 2013
. Retrieved
11 December
2008
.
- ^
"Dugun Davetiyesi"
.
Official Web site of Abdullah Catlı
. Archived from
the original
on 19 October 2008
. Retrieved
1 January
2009
.
- ^
"FOTO?RAF ALBUMU"
.
Official Web site of Abdullah Catlı
(in Turkish). Archived from
the original
on 22 November 2008
. Retrieved
1 January
2009
.
- ^
"Gokcen Catlı hakkında (About G. atlı)"
.
Official Web site of Abdullah Catlı
(in Turkish). Archived from
the original
on 22 November 2008
. Retrieved
1 January
2009
.
- ^
"Reis'in kızına dolarlı ni?an"
.
www.hurriyet.com.tr
(in Turkish)
. Retrieved
1 December
2020
.
- ^
Ozturk, Neslihan (3 July 1997).
"Abdullah Catli's daughter to write book on her father"
.
Turkish Daily News
. Archived from
the original
on 28 June 2007.
Alt URL
- ^
Beki, Mehmet Akif (10 November 1997).
"Two portraits of 'The Chief': Which Catli?"
.
Turkish Daily News
.
[
dead link
]
Alt URL
External links
[
edit
]