The unit consisted of pilots recruited by the CIA to fly high-altitude reconnaissance missions over the Soviet Union and other key sites.
[1] During the Cold War, an important asset was the Counter-Guerrilla, and the Grey Wolves; the paramilitary youth branch of the Nationalist Movement Party.
[2] Before the death of Counter-Guerrilla Alparslan Türkeş, the far-right paramilitary Grey Wolves were used to attack leftists.
A cable dated 8 June 2006 stated that the Turkish military had allowed the use of Incirlik Air Base as a refueling stop for "detainee movement operations" since 2002.
[7][8] According to intelligence sources quoted by Seymour Hersh, in early 2012 the CIA set up in co-operation with Turkey what it called "the Rat Line", a covert operation to obtain and transport, using proxies and front companies, armaments from Libya to rebel groups in Syria via southern Turkey.