Kemalist death squads,Why democratic turkey(Top-politicians)keeps silent?

litwin · Sep 5, 2012

Kemalist death squads, Why democratic turkey(Top-politicians, Prosecutes, Police, etc) keeps silent?

The Ipek Yolu Highway, the Turkish name for the Silk Road, runs right past the front of the building heading toward Iraq. And behind it there is a sea of chest-high, green corn broken by the occasional well. The wells turned out to be great places for getting rid of the bodies of those who were executed.

For years, people in the surrounding villages kept quiet. And then, in 2002, the army lifted the region's state of emergency, and the men from Jitem disappeared. For a long time, people thought that speaking about Karaaslan's restaurant increased their own chances of disappearing.

But, since March, the area has been home to backhoes and salvaging equipment. What was once unheard of is now happening in southeastern Turkey -- in Cizre, in Silopi, in Kustepe and wherever else local lawyers have filled a petition to have the "death wells" opened. Turkish officials have now started to dig for the remains of Kurds who have disappeared. But the digging also means working through one of the darkest chapters in this country's history, when Turkish security forces waged a dirty war against supporters of the PKK and its suspected supporters.

Shot 'Like an Animal'

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of civil rights activists, politicians and businesspeople suspected of having ties with the PKK were kidnapped and murdered. No one knows their exact number, and it was only in rare cases that the victims were even identified. Many corpses were dumped into wells; others were doused in acid and thrown into fields. The horror of the sight was meant to serve as a deterrent. But the majority disappeared without a trace and are still listed as missing.

One of the missing is the Kurdish construction worker Ramazan Solmaz. His wife Piroze last saw him on January 15, 1993. "He was on his way to work when they caught him," she says. "That's all I know. There are no traces, no clues. I'd just like to know where his body is. I just want to bury him." Piroze and a friend have put their faith in Cizre's bar association. "My husband, Selahattin, was shot in broad daylight in 1998 right on the street," say her friend, who is wearing a pitch-black version of the traditional Kurdish gown. "Just like that. Like an animal."

At the time, the women didn't even think about filing a criminal complaint. In Cizre, confronting those in power had its consequences. The powerful included not only the soldiers and the people from Jitem, but also members of the radical-Islamic Turkish Hezbollah, a militant Kurdish organization unrelated to the Lebanese Hezbollah. The war between the Turkish army and the PKK raged in the mountains surrounding Cizre. But in the city itself, it was this group that held power over life and death. A brutal leader of this clan named Kamil Atak once let himself be nominated to become mayor. As local politicians will tell you, the former shepherd used to take pleasure in "feeding" his captives to his Hezbollah fighters.

Spreading Fear and Anxiety

Even after the state of emergency was lifted in 2002, Atak remained under the protection of state security forces. Just over two months ago, on March 23, police arrested Atak as part of a nationwide operation after he garnered the attention of investigators working on the "Ergenekon" case. Soon after Atak's arrest, authorities also arrested Cemal Temizöz, a colonel in the military police, who also sowed fear and anxiety among the inhabitants of Cizre.

"Ergenekon" is the name of a place in popular Turkish mythology, but it is also the name given to a conspiracy of networked ultra-nationalists. Roughly 150 of its members are now standing trial in Turkey. The former soldiers, police officers, journalists, professors and everyday Mafiosi stand accused of having planned a coup against the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The trial has been going on for more than six months. It is the most explosive trial in recent Turkish history....
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http://www.spiegel.de/international...hen-the-soldiers-weren-t-around-a-627144.html

litwin · Sep 5, 2012

"The Human Rights Association estimates that between 1989 and 2008 JİTEM was involved in 5000 unsolved killings of journalists, human rights defenders, intellectuals and political activists and was responsible for 1,500 cases of "disappearances"" http://www.bundestag.de/dasparlament/2009/39-40/Beilage/001.html

Goldwater · Sep 5, 2012

litwin said: ↑

Kemalist death squads, Why democratic turkey(Top-politicians, Prosecutes, Police, etc) keeps silent?

http://www.spiegel.de/international...hen-the-soldiers-weren-t-around-a-627144.html
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That is indeed a shame if the ultra nationalists start doing that again. I remember my friends in Nurtepe Istanbul who were the sons of construction/electrical workers, who were considered socialists by those guys, and they used to get hassled alot by those guys.

It will only hurt Turkey's chances of getting into the EU even more

Breath · Sep 6, 2012

litwin said: ↑

Kemalist death squads, Why democratic turkey(Top-politicians, Prosecutes, Police, etc) keeps silent?

http://www.spiegel.de/international...hen-the-soldiers-weren-t-around-a-627144.html
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The answer is simple; because your article is (*)(*)(*)(*)ing overdated and biased, there's no such a thing as "Kemalist threat" or "Kemalist death squad" which is products of your childish imagination. I don't know about you but Turkey has different things to worry about, so take your bull(*)(*)(*)(*) elsewhere. Thank you.

litwin · Sep 7, 2012

Breath said: ↑

The answer is simple; because your article is (*)(*)(*)(*)ing overdated and biased, there's no such a thing as "Kemalist threat" or "Kemalist death squad" which is products of your childish imagination. I don't know about you but Turkey has different things to worry about, so take your bull(*)(*)(*)(*) elsewhere. Thank you.
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so JİTEM has never existed? and and Turkish Chikatilo (Ibrahim Babat) was never born?

1,469 Bodies in 114 Mass Graves - More to Come

A research by the Turkish Medical Association revealed that the remains of 1,469 people were found in 114 mass graves so far, the real figure may exceed these numbers by far. The association is concerned about the obscuring of evidence during the excavations....According to a research on mass graves carried out by the Turkish Medical Association (TTB), bones belonging to 1,469 people have been found in 114 mass graves so far. Excavations of 26 mass graves uncovered the remains of 171 people. The TTB announced that the real dimensions of this issue were going to exceed these numbers by far.

The research delegation was joined by TTB Central Council members Dr Osman Öztürk, Dr Halis Yerlikaya besides the Secretary General of the Ağrı Medical Chamber Dr Heval Bozdağ and Osman İşçi from the Human Rights Association (İHD).

The members of the research delegation went to the predominantly Kurdish region of south-eastern Turkey between 19-20 February and talked to relatives of disappeared persons in Mutki (Bitlis), Siirt, Batman, Diyarbakır and the districts of Kozluk, Hazro and Silvan. They furthermore spoke with executives of the İHD and MEYA-DER, the Mesopotamia Solidarity and Culture Association for Families who Lost their Relatives. The experts also carried out field research at the mass graves.

A preliminary evaluation was announced at a meeting on 21 February attended by Dr Eriş Bilaloğlu, President of the TBB Central Council, and council membes Öztürk and Dr. Arzu Erbilici.
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ISTANBUL // A former high-ranking official in the Turkish military has broken a long-held silence over the government's suspected involvement in extrajudicial killings, a move applauded by human rights activists. The killings are believed to be a result of the government's fight against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, or PKK, a rebel group. The killings, which rights activists estimate to be anywhere between 3,000 to 5,000 cases for the period between 1989 and 1996, when most of the executions took place, have long been a taboo subject. Accusing security forces of perpetrating such atrocities has been regarded as treasonous and could result in provoking intimidation or worse.

But this is changing. After mass graves were unearthed in the region last year, prosecutors in the Kurdish area have begun investigating and building cases. A military officer is now standing trial in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakir for his alleged involvement in extrajudicial killings, while a former admiral has confirmed that the killings in the 1990s were part of an official, if secret, "state policy".

"I think that people in power at the time saw the unsolved murders as a tool to fight terrorism," the retired admiral, Atilla Kiyat, told the Haberturk television channel this month. "How can you sleep peacefully at night?" he asked, addressing Turkey's political and military establishment of the 1990s. "Come forward and say openly whether the unsolved murders were a state policy and whether those boys [who carried out the murders] were implementing state policy or not. If you say that 'No, there was no such state policy', then say it. But they will not say it."

Mr Kiyat's statement, a rare call to resolve years of angst and frustration over the killings and disappearances, was welcomed by activists and relatives. "It is a chance to face up to our past," Nusirevan Elci, the president of the bar association in the south-eastern Turkish province of Sirnak, said in a telephone interview. "Everyone knew it was state policy because those were no local events; they were all over the place. It is unthinkable that some military officer somewhere acted on his own initiative."
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litwin · Sep 7, 2012

Goldwater said: ↑

That is indeed a shame if the ultra nationalists start doing that again. I remember my friends in Nurtepe Istanbul who were the sons of construction/electrical workers, who were considered socialists by those guys, and they used to get hassled alot by those guys.

It will only hurt Turkey's chances of getting into the EU even more
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who says that they dont do(maybe on a smaller scale but still...) it today?

Midnight Express · Sep 8, 2012

Jitem is not a lie.It is a naked truth.Jitem has existed during 1900's and used against PKK and unfortunately sometimes against civil Kurds(even Turks).Even though Turkish Chief of the General Staff denied its existence there a lot people who worked for Jitem who accepts its existences.....
Unfortunately Turkey denies its existence...
But At the moment there is NO such an illegal organization.Even in the small scale....Now,Turkey struggles against terrorism just like any other democratic state doing it.
İn fact in Turkey everybody knows there was such organizations in 1990's just deceiving themselves....

and Dear Litwin I have question for you
Do you know NOW we are in 2012 and you are talking about an historical event.Even in the past of most democratic states there were such organizations.....Am I wrong?

litwin · Sep 8, 2012

Midnight Express said: ↑

Jitem is not a lie.It is a naked truth.Jitem has existed during 1900's and used against PKK and unfortunately sometimes against civil Kurds(even Turks).Even though Turkish Chief of the General Staff denied its existence there a lot people who worked for Jitem who accepts its existences.....
Unfortunately Turkey denies its existence...
But At the moment there is NO such an illegal organization.Even in the small scale....Now,Turkey struggles against terrorism just like any other democratic state doing it.
İn fact in Turkey everybody knows there was such organizations in 1990's just deceiving themselves....

and Dear Litwin I have question for you
Do you know NOW we are in 2012 and you are talking about an historical event.Even in the past of most democratic states there were such organizations.....Am I wrong?
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i m not sure about it,

i have a question to you as well, are you sure that your PM controls the army,- police, - intelligence a 100% ?

ps

The most significant attempt to bring justice to the state perpetrators of extrajudicial
killings and enforced disappearances continued with the ongoing trial in Diyarbakır
involving a now-retired colonel, village guards, and informers for the murder of 20
individuals in Cizre, Şırnak, between 1993 and 1995.
In March former police officer Ayhan Çarkın spoke publicly for the first time and later
testified before a prosecutor about his involvement in a special operations unit committing
political assassinations of named Kurds and leftists in the 1990s. Çarkın alleged the unit
acted under government orders and with its collusion. In June he was remanded to prison
pending trial after claiming involvement in four killings; the prosecutors investigation
continued at this writing.
In September Mehmet Ağara former police chief, interior minister, and parliamentarian
implicated in Çarkıns testimonyreceived a five-year prison sentence for forming an
armed criminal gang involving state actors and mafia. Proceedings against Ağar began
with the evidence of state-mafia activities, which were revealed after a 1996 traffic
accident near Susurluk, western Turkey. Until 2007 Ağar was protected from prosecution
by parliamentary immunity. He has appealed the conviction and remains at liberty.
Trials continued of alleged anti-AKP coup plotters, made up of senior retired military,
police, mafia, journalists, and academics, and know as the Ergenekon gang. One of the
most important advances in 2011 was circumstantial evidence pointing to Ergenekon gang
involvement in the 2007 murder of three Christians in Malatya. However, the prolonged
pre-trial detention of some Ergenekon defendants, and the prosecution of Şık and Şener
risk undermining this important effort to combat impunity.
There was no progress in uncovering the full plot behind the January 2007 murder of
journalist Hrant Dink, although in September the prosecutor suggested that the main
suspectswho face possible life imprisonmentmay have Ergenekon gang connections.
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Midnight Express · Sep 9, 2012

litwin said: ↑

i m not sure about it,

i have a question to you as well, are you sure that your PM controls the army,- police, - intelligence a 100% ?

ps
Click to expand...

I dont know how much Erdoğan Government can control army but It is not just a matter of control of army.

Turkish People has changed now we can see and learn everthing,moreover our militarist point of views has changed...
Now People can criticize past doings of army, this is much more effective than what Erdoğan Government is doing...
As usual Keen Kemalsit are unhappy,moaning for Junta whoare arrested in Silivri Prison...

litwin · Sep 9, 2012

Midnight Express said: ↑

I dont know how much Erdoğan Government can control army but It is not just a matter of control of army.

Turkish People has changed now we can see and learn everthing,moreover our militarist point of views has changed...
Now People can criticize past doings of army, this is much more effective than what Erdoğan Government is doing...
As usual Keen Kemalsit are unhappy,moaning for Junta whoare arrested in Silivri Prison...
Click to expand...

problem here, that kemalistic death squads´ sleeping cells are still functional, murderers( nationalistic bizarre sadists) unpunished and can strike against easy targets any time. dont you see that death squads´ sleeping cells are the real danger for Turkish young democracy?

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