The victims included the deputy chief of the Istanbul Police Department, a Member of Parliament, and Abdullah Çatlı, the leader of the Grey Wolves and a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (Turkey) (MİT), who was on Interpol's red list at the time of his death.
The peculiar connections of those involved in the crash with Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar brought to light the existence of a deep state in Turkey and an internal power struggle within the Turkish political structure.
[7] The subsequent media scrutiny surrounding the crash led to several investigations and the resignation of both Çiller and Ağar, though no government official associated with the scandal faced any immediate criminal trial.
After some bargaining, Eken took delivery of US$50 million worth of weapons (though only half of it was paid for) from the Özel Harekat Dairesi (ÖHD, police special forces department).
A criminal investigation was launched against the deputy chair of the ÖHD, İbrahim Şahin, but he suffered a traffic accident and claimed to have lost his memory.
Others included former nationalist club leaders Ramiz Ongun, Enver Tortaş, Tevfik Esensoy, Bedri Ateş (Uğur Özgöbek), Rıfat Yıldırım, Türkmen Onur and Üzeyir Bayraklı.
[23] Fikri Sağlar of the Republican People's Party (CHP) says Chief of Staff Doğan Güreş was behind much of the planning that led to the turf war between the MİT and the police force.
wrote that many one-time nobodies suddenly became big politicians after entering the money laundering business, because the political parties were deeply involved in it (to finance their campaigns).
[12] The police force's Special Operations Department (Turkish: Özel Harekat Dairesi, ÖHD) was held responsible for some of the lawless killings.
Nuran Yorulmaz, the mother of a Susurluk convict, recently spoke out, said Veli Küçük had ordered his son Oğuz (of the ÖHD) to kill almost 100 people.
Twenty-five days after the death of Mumcu, Gen. Eşref Bitlis, who had been investigating the same issue, died in a plane crash, believed to be due to sabotage.
Bitlis, his aide-de-camp Fahir Işık, technician Emir Öner and the pilots, who had VIP green card certification for excellence in flying, died in the crash.
He had convictions for drug smuggling, and was dubbed the "casino king" for the gambling ventures that made his later fortune, which amounted to around $1 billion at the time of his assassination.
An extensive 1999 study by the Ministry of Finance contained the following facts on Topal:[42] He shot from rags to riches in just five years; in 1991 he owned but a cafeteria.
[citation needed] The scandal began after a Mercedes 600 SEL owned by MP Sedat Bucak crashed into a truck near Çatalceviz, Susurluk in the Balıkesir province in Turkey.
[49] Parliament decided on 12 November to launch a commission of inquiry into links between police, politicians, and organised crime, and on 22 December President Suleyman Demirel brought party leaders together to seek consensus on investigating these issues.
Even the Greeks wouldn't be able to do something like this to usThose who fire bullets or suffer their wounds in the name of this country, this nation, and this state will always be respectfully remembered by us.Çiller had her speeches written by her advisors at the Analitik Grubu, whose members included Mümtazer Türköne; allegedly an acquaintance of Çatlı from the Grey Wolves leadership, and currently a columnist for Zaman.
[59] Following the censorship of some pages of the report, HADEP Deputy Chairman Osman Özçelik drew attention to the involvement of state-sponsored gangs in ostensibly solving the Kurdish problem.
[61] A popular nationwide event, known as "Sürekli Aydınlık İçin Bir Dakika Karanlık [tr]" ("One minute's darkness for the sake of perpetual light"), was organized to protest the "satanic triangle" (a nationalist mafia leader, a high ranking police officer, and a member of parliament).
[63] The Deputy Chair of the DYP, Mehmet Golhan, denounced the protestors as traitors, while prime minister Necmettin Erbakan, of the Welfare Party, called them "parasites and conspirators...who have nothing to do apart from intrigue".
Addressing the Susurluk commission, CHP deputy Fikri Sağlar said that True Path Party leaders Tansu Çiller and Mehmet Ağar were at the heart of the scandal, and personally responsible for the "politics and economy becoming Mafia-like".
[66] Sağlar attempted and failed to obtain the testimony of several people, including Teoman Koman, Necdet Üruğ, Veli Küçük, Tansu and Özer Çiller.
If a super-prosecutor like di Pietro came forward in Turkey, tomorrow he would be dragged through Taksim Square as an enemy of the nation.The MİT report showed that Çatlı was at the Ankara Sheraton Hotel on 24 August 1996 in the company of a delegation from Brunei.
[69] Among others, the Inspection Board contained the following allegations: During an investigation conducted by the parliamentary commission on the Susurluk incident, Hanefi Avcı, the deputy chief of police intelligence, divulged connections and the names of senior officials, who were providing protection to gang leaders.
Ağar was eventually re-elected to Parliament (as a leader of the True Path Party, DYP), and the sole survivor of the crash, chieftain Sedat Bucak, was released.
On the other hand, 44 senior officials who were under investigation were promoted, including:[86] Şahin was close to ülkücü circles and Çatlı in particular, having been pictured dancing with him in a wedding.
[87] In 1984 he was sentenced to two years in prison for torturing numerous people, but his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court (Turkish: Yargıtay) on a technicality, indicating the support of powerful actors behind the scenes.
[30]: 599 CHP deputy Fikri Sağlar alleges that Çakıcı deliberately chose to be apprehended in France, a country with a developed judicial system, and that he even contacted a lawyer beforehand.
[24] Ataç had originally planned to give the passport to Mehmet Can Kulaksızoğlu, the fugitive leader of the Turkish Revenge Brigade and suspected mastermind behind the assassination attempt on Human Rights Association chairman Akın Birdal.
Çatlı’s presence alongside Bucak and Kocadağ made it impossible to refute the claim that the government relied upon gangsters to commit extra-judicial killings of dissidents and militants.