Last update September 2002, will be updated every
few months
Cyprus has been ethnically divided since 1974 when Turkey moved in and
invaded more than a third of the island in response to a coup inspired
by the military junta in Greece after decades of intercommunal
violence. Following this, the Turkish Cypriots moved to the northern
part of the island, whereas the Greek Cypriots living there were
forced to flee to the south. In the areas under Turkish military
control, the Turkish Cypriots first declared autonomous rule and in
1983, they declared independence and proclaimed a republic called
Turksh Republic of Northern Cyprus, which, to this day has not been
recognized by any country except Turkey and has been repeatedly
declared illegal by the international community . Turkey has been
recognized as an occupying power in Cyprus by several UN and
international resolutions and there have been several cases brought
against it in the European Court of Human Rights concerning the
atrocities committed in 1974 as well as its current status in the
island of Cyprus.
With the international attention mainly focused on the presence of
Turkey on the island, the issue of oppression faced by the progressive
Turkish Cypriots living in the area controlled by Turkey has, for
years, remained in the dark. The international isolation of the
Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus has also meant that the only voices
heard from the region were those of the ruling powers, mostly
occupying their positions through undemocratic means. As a result, the
voice of the dictatorial regime was perceived as that of all Turkish
Cypriots when it was anything but.
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The main aim of this report is to bring to light the (mostly unheard)
political terror that has been going on since 1974 in northern
Cyprus. It is part of a series in preparation outlining human rights
violations in the Turkish-controlled part of Cyprus [websites]. It
deals with three major forms of political terror; (1) threats through
the media resulting in physical or emotional terror, (2) bombings and
gun firings directed at political personalities, newspapers and
parties and (3) murder of a prominent journalist Kutlu Adali. The
latter is singled out because it is the only known political murder
since 1974 (although there were other murders believed to be related
to Turkish intelligence [temairkad1]) and it has played a key role in
terror against politicians, journalists and activists since then.
There has been more than 31 bombings, 10 arsons, 4 gun firings and 1
murder with political motivations in the Turkish-controlled part of
Cyprus since 1974. No one has ever been found guilty and no serious,
well established group has ever claimed responsibility for these
actions. Victims and others in threatened position have always claimed
a link between these and the "deep state"[susurluk] or
"counter-guerilla" (known in Europe as the Gladio) which was uncovered
a decade ago in Turkey. Reports from witnesses, victims and other
threatened incidate deliberate negligence and obstruction by the
authorities which strengthens the above claim. Furthermore, threats
in the media, by phone calls, letters and leaflets all carry the
fingerprint of "counter-guerilla" style activities. Many reports in
the media tried to uncover some of these (most prominent being the
murder of Kutlu Adali) establishing a variety of links.
It should also be noted that since the formation of underground
(so-called) resistance organizations in the Turkish Cypriot community
(almost always controled and funded by Turkish intelligence with
connections well-established in the memoirs of the leading members)
around 1958, political terror has been a part of life (only one main
organization survived called Türk Mukavemet Teşkilatı (TMT)). It was
common to have opostion unionists beaten, threatened, opposition
journalists murdered and many others threatened. Some examples of
pre-1974 killings by the underground organizations of progressive
Turkish Cypriots involve those of Ahmet Gurkan and Ayhan Hikmet
(publishers of the daily "Cumhuriyet") and Dervis Ali Kavazoglu
(member of the executive council of the communist party of the
island). These were seen as natural consequences of the extraordinary
circumstances of the period by some and the people and organizations
responsible for these openly (and proudly) claimed responsibility
without any repurcussions. Many of them became post-1974 period's key
political figures. According to many, the command structure of these
groups remained intact and continued functioningafter 1974 (although
in a much lower scale) and on several occasions tried to create
conditions to intensify the terror. This is not so unlikely since it
is common for intelligence ("counter-guerilla") to have continuality
over generations.
In the post-1974 period, the inaccessibility of the Turkish-controled
region of Cyprus to international monitoring organizations has been
utilized for several illegal acts such as smuggling of historical
heritage of the region and the establishment of off-shore black-money
laundering "banks" (in certain cases the connections between the
leading members of the Turkish "Deep-state" and shady "businesses" in
northern Cyprus have been well documented, as in the case of First
Merchant Bank [reference]). These dark powers have openly supported
the rulers of the regime in northern Cyprus, which in return let them
operate freely. Hence, it is not surprising that for many years the
politics of Turkey and its puppets in northern Cyprus was based on
prolonging the status-quo, and gaining time for their "business as
usual"
With the EU candidacy of Cyprus approaching and Turkey's prospects for
candidacy largely dependent on the solution of the Cyprus problem,
however, the representative of Turkey in Cyprus; the "president" of
the breakway republic has beeen forced to return to the negotiation
table. This has greatly upset the powers benefiting from the current
status-quo and whose interest lies in the continuation of the
problem. Currently, the oppression against the progressive powers in
Cyprus, demanding a solution to the problem and re-unification of the
island, is taking up. While Mr. Denktash has been forced to the
negotiation table under immense pressure, he is also organizing the
forces against a solution (those whose interests are served by the
current status-quo) in an underground fashion. In the recent months,
while he was giving a "pro-peace" appearance to the world, the fascist
organization led by his advisors has increased pressures on the
progressives. Opposition journalists are under constant surveillance
and harrassment and progressive teachers/professors are being expelled
from their teaching posts. The main opposition newspaper had its
printing houses bombed several times by "unknown people".
The previous acts of the regime against the progressive Turkish
Cypriots and the recent surfacing of fascist organizations which
operate with direct cooperation with the Turkish army (40,000 strong -
the Turkish Cypriot population is estimated to be 80,000) in Cyprus
make us fear for the well-being of the progressives in Cyprus. The
first part of this report ("Threats through the media") summarizes the
recent organization of the fascist forces, and includes extracts from
their publications. In the second part ("Bombings and gun-firings"),
we summarize the bombings and other forms of physical attacks on the
prominent progressives since 1974. In the third part, we analyze the
murder of Kutlu Adali. It is our hope that this report will serve to
alert the international community to the psychological warfare against
the progressive Turkish Cypriots which may turn into physical violance
any time. We also call upon the international community to exert
pressure on Ankara and its representatives in Cyprus to stop their
oppressive behaviors against the progressive Turkish Cypriots at a
time when they are giving pro-peace messages to the rest of the world.
While we realize that similar acts targetting progressives may exist
elsewhere, what makes the situation in northern Cyprus critical is the
fact that the sustained attack against the progressives in northern
Cyprus are supported in one way or another by those who control the
state mechanism. This means that we are facing a situation where the
true rulers of the state themselves are harboring fascist
organizations that declare "the protection of the state from internal
and external enemies" as their reason of existence. We believe that
the situation in northern Cyprus is serious enough to be of real
concern and certainly severly limits the ability of Turkish Cypriots
to enjoy their democratic and human rights. Given that most people
targettted are campaigners of the unification of the island and peace
with Greek Cypriots, these also effect the solution of the infamous
"Cyprus Problem". These are problems of all Cypriots --- in fact,
Greek Cypriots also fell victim to the actions of nationalist
extremists that are in power directly (e.g murder of Tassos Isaak and
S. Solomou in 1996).
Unfortunately, under the shadow of gross human rights violations due
to the status quo and ongoing high-level negotiations, these events go
mainly unreported in the foreign media. Turkish Cypriot opposition has
generally been unable to enjoy protection through international
pressure and awareness. Although, this situation has begun to improve
since the introduction of internet which eliminated the communications
blockade imposed on the community the efforts of informing the
international community of the situation are still not effective and
continous. We believe that this is a serious omission and hope that
these reports will serve to increase the awareness in the
international community --- especially within human rights
organizations.
Detailed outlines of the three main issues are availble in the
relevant sections and supporting documents (and their translations)
are provided where available. These sections are under constant
development and more materials will be added as they become available.
(I) Threats through the Media resulting in Physical or Emotional
Terror
This section includes translations from the two daily newspapers
supported by the regime in northern Cyprus - Kıbrıslı Gazetesi and
Volkan Gazetesi [gazeteler]. Kıbrıslı, which appears with the motto
"We are little Turkey" has been in print for a few years
[kibrisliinfo] and was the main mouthpiece of Turkish Cypriot leader
Denktash and army before the establishment of Volkan. Volkan is the
official mouthpiece of UHH(National People's Movement), a fascist
organization established in the "presidential palace" by the political
advisers of Denktash. UHH surfaced with anonymous declarations in May
2001 threatening the progressives acting "against the national cause",
but under immense public pressure , the people behind it surfaced
shortly thereafter and have been trying to portray themselves as a
legal political force. Volkan - named after the predecessor of Turkish
Resistance Organization (TMT, mentioned above) - includes articles by
the leaders of UHH and it acts as a "daily orders to the government"
by those dark powers who have the real power in the northern part of
Cyprus and find the government formed by two right-wing parties
"inefficient at dealing with the internal enemies". Both publications
publish information that is not publicly available - and can only be
obtained through secret connections with the security forces (which
are under direct command of the Turkish military in the island).
The translations that follow illustrate the atmosphere of terror
created in north Cyprus by these newspapers. The following sections
which outline the other two forms of terror will illustrate how these
threats should be taken seriously because of their effects in the
past.
Some translations are accompanied by background information which will
help understand the context under which the article appeared. The
dates of the articles are also given to help those that would like to
locate the original source [makaleler].
Background: Erhan Arıklı is a member of groups related to the Gray
Wolves [wolves] of Turkey. He admitted to being part of the crowd that
participated in the killing of two Greek Cypriots on the Greek Line in
1996. Recently, he has surfaced as the head of an association called
"Turkish Union" (Turk-Bir) which has released threatening declarations
in the past against individuals and organizations. Some members of
Turk-Bir (double check this info!) were arrested and released in
relation to political bombings. He also proudly admits a history of
fighting against leftist groups in Turkey during 70s alongside of Gray
Wolves.
A Warning to The Traitors
Yes, because of your treason, this soil may even be lost one day and
this state may cease to exist just like the hundreds of other Turkish
states in history.
But, let it be our oath in the name of Allah who created us, on these
holy days, dawning horizons (...) and on our martyrs who are watching
over us that AT LEAST A FEW HUNDREDS AMONG YOU WILL NOT SEE THOSE DAYS
(capitalization as in original article)
No... No...
Do not take this as a threat...
This is your definite fate...
Cut this article from the paper and save it
somewhere...
If, as you wish, the TRNC ends up being given over to the
Greek... that day... yes, that day... as first thing we will find all
of you one by one...
Believe me, we will not hear your cries of "Please kill us". For our
ears will be blocked with cotton.
Yes, that day, the articles you have written will be our proofs.
We will start by making you eat all of the pages, yes all of them,
where your words of hatred stand
Those who are cursing both this holy state and Turkey, I am telling
you... Those calling our heroic army which protects us from the enemy
and guards our borders the "invasion army", listen to me well.
Take a good look at your hands... Take your tongues out and look at
them in the mirror.
And don't say "But there is democracy, but there is freedom of
thought".
Those are nothing more than your weapons of crime. Whatever is going
to happen to you, it is them to blame. Know this well.
You can twist what I have written and try to portray me as a cruel
sadist to the Turks of Cyprus.
You can sue me, or even curse me all together.
You can watch suspiciously every car that passes by your houses, your
newspapers and publishing houses and complain to the world that you
"cannot speak" and are "being threatened".
But believe me, none of these will help.
The signature put under the agreement which hands over TRNC to the
Greek will function as the signature put on your death order.
That day will be the day where the the tongues no longer talk, the
pens no longer write, the keyboards no longer type and the publishing
houses no longer print...
That day will be the day when the words will run out and other things
will start talking.
And that is all I have to say...
These are not against this system or anything. To the contrary they
want the system to go on as it is. For it is this system that feeds
them. They criticize the wrongs of it and show the Motherland as the
only responsible. And as solution, they have just one thing in
mind. To destroy this state at whatever cost and hand it over to the
Greek.
And calling the Turkish Army which is their biggest obstacle the
"Invasion Army" is their biggest propaganda weapon.
They are nourishing on the democracy which has become very relaxed and
the state is unable to take the precautions to protect itself.
Those that call the Turkish Army "Invasion Army" everyday and call
Motherland Turkey the "invador" and call for cooperation to "get rid
of the invador" - the owners of these "brains for rent" : How much I
would love to tell them "Yes, it is an invasion and you are my slave"
and put the chain around their necks.
I would make them wash my feet everyday, and I would slap them when I
got bored.
I wouldn't use an ashtray or anything to put off my cigarette. I would
just say "take your tongue out".
I wouldn't look for a sand-bag for training in the mornings. Just for
pleasure I would beat them up till I got tired.
Before going to bed at night, I would ask them whether they regretted,
and on the days when I got a negative response, I would make the chain
around their neck a little tighter and step up the torture.
When I was bored of torturing them, I would just castrate them.
And then I would take them to the soldiers of the army which they call
the "Invasion Army" and ask them to do what they please to them.
Background: The local elections are coming up in northern
Cyprus. Patriotic Unity Movement (YBH) [ybhhomepage], in its
declaration about the elections voiced two main points:
- In an occupied country, like ours, where the military is in
power, the demographics can be changed overnight by "importing"
electors and where post-election interventions with the results are
common, the objective conditions for an election where people's will
is reflected do not exist.
- Despite this, YBH is going to put forward candidates where
it is organized and use the electoral platform to organize the
reaction that exists within the community, and to decypher the regime
to encourage a mass uprising against it.
Here's an extract from the Volkan editorial on XXXXX. The body of the
editorial consisted of calling on the judges of the supreme court to
"do their duty" - i.e. close YBH for calling northern Cyprus
"occupied". The closing part of the editorial reads:
"We are out of patience. Either the legal authorities will do what is
necessary, or our people deeply attached to their Motherland and to
their state know what to do against this divisive and destructive act
[of YBH]"
The following day there was another editorial in the same
context. This time the authorities that are not acting to outlaw YBH
as they had requested are also under attack:
"Everyone should wake up from this silence. This much indifference is
enough. If, in this country, the laws cannot do what is necessary, the
heroic Turkish Cypriot people will definitely take acts to protect its
state and put not only these centers of evil, but also those that
remain silent in the face of their attacks into their place. We are in
a rage. There is a price to remaining silent in the face of these
calls to uprising and these divisive acts and those that remain silent
will also pay this price."
This sort of language was used in communiques of underground
organizations in the past which was time to time followed by murders
and bombings (see relevant section below) [threats]. Therefore, the
aim of these editorials are pretty clear.
Volkan Newspaper: Establishment of "Avrupa Partisi"
(European Party)
Background: The columnists of the main opposition newspaper Afrika
(formerly Avrupa) gave their application for the establishment of a
political party, "Avrupa Partisi" to the Ministry of Internal Affairs
on Friday, March 22. The next day, Volkan introduced the party as "a
party of the external powers aimed to destroy the TRNC from within"
and called on the authorities to take actions for the closure of this
new party along with YBH. It is remarkable that Volkan obtained some
information which was not public such as a list of the founders of the
party, even before the founders themselves officially declared the
establishment of a new party. In fact Volkan declared the formation of
Avrupa Partisi two days before its founders did. It also published on
its front page the home addresses of 15 founding members of the
party. Here are some extracts from the articles that appeared in the
said publication.
Volkan, March 31, editorial:
"Unless the government and the parliament take the legal action
necessary against the provocation of these people and they stop them
from using the electoral platform and the media to attack our
Motherland, our army, our president and our national values, it will
be unavoidable to have a big chaos for our people who are loyal to the
national cause will teach these provocators a lesson - using a
language they will understand - during the election season. And the
whole responsibility for this will lie on those that did not take the
legal precautions to stop these provocators.
The government and the parliament have to act urgently and take the
following five precautions:
1- Change the law about political parties and make attacks against the
Motherland, our state, the Peace Operation and the guarantor status of
the Motherland a cause for closing a political party.
2- Make the use of "invasion" rhetoric a crime which necessitates the
immediate arrest of those that use it and the banning of their
newspapers.
3- Make it necessary for a party to have been in existance for at
least a year before it can participate in elections.
4- Cancel the law which allows the political parties to use the state
television and radio for their election campaigns and end this
procedure at once.
5- Ban the trade unions and associations from being active in
politics."
Declaration of the "Association of the Mujahideen"
[mucahitler], published in Volkan Newspaper
"Association of Mujahideen: We are determined to break those hands
that are raised against the sovereignty and the flag of TRNC.
The head of the association, Faik Koyuncuoglu, has expressed the
determination of his association to break those hands that are raised
against the sovereignty and the flag of TRNC and advised those that
are disregarding the existence of TRNC not to force the limits of the
patience of the people"
Volkan Newspaper
"...Enough is enough... We are warning once again... Unless this
government and this parliament take the necessary steps, they will
bear the responsibility of all the events that will arise due to the
provocations of these paranoiacs.. Are the heroic Turkish Cypriot
people going to listen to these calling our Motherland "an invader and
an occupier" from the state TV and radio and just remain silent? Are
our people not going to go and destroy those TV and radio channels
with them inside? They will repeat the Greek rhetoric in their
election rallies and this heroic people is going to remain silent? No,
it will break the election platform on their heads. If the arising of
such events is not wanted, the government and the parliament have to
take the necessary legal actions within a month."
These series of recent articles are representative of the atmosphere
of terror created in north Cyprus by certain groups. Names of the
papers and personalities voicing these opinions have changed over time
but the essential themes and the language used has been very
consistent since 1960s indicating a continuty of policy and
aims. These papers and organizations are supported and directed by
very powerful individuals (such as the Turkish Cypriot leader
Denktash) and Turkish Army and intelligence. As the following two
sections will demonstrate, this rhetoric does not exist in vaccuum and
it has in the past been followed by violence against the opposition.
They also serve the purpose of terrorising the general public to not
follow the opposition politicians. By threatening the leaders,
journalists, activists and such, these groups are keeping the public
from raising their opinion against the regime unless they are ready to
face similar consequences. Over the years, many prominent
intellectuals, activists and politicians have been neutralized and/or
been forced to leave the island in result of these activities.
(II) Bombings and Gun-firings
In this section, we list some of the bombings and other kinds of
physical violence directed against the progressives in northern Cyprus
in the post-1974 period. We then single out attacks against New Cyprus
Party and its leader Alpay Durduran to provide some background and
detailed analysis of the situation.
(a) A partial list of Attacks: (check explosive types)
There has been more than 31 bombings, 10 arsons, 4 gun firings and 1
murder with political motivations. No one has ever been found guilty
and no serious, well establshed group ever claimed responsibility for
these actions. Victims and others in threatened position have always
claimed a link between these and the "deep state"[susurluk] or
"counter-guerilla" (known in Europe as the Gladio) which was uncovered
a decade ago in Turkey. Reports from witnesses, victims and other
threatened incidate deliberate negligence and obstruction by the
authorities which strengthens the above claim. Furthermore, threats
in the media, by phone calls, letters and leaflets all carry the
fingerprint of "counter-guerilla" style activities. Many reports in
the media tried to uncover some of these (most prominent being the
murder of Kutlu Adali) establishing a variety of links.
(b) Terrorism Against the Avrupa Newspaper
See relevant Avrupa/Afrika Newspaper" dossier.
(c) Attacks against New Cyprus Party and its leader
Alpay Durduran
Alpay Durduran is a veteran politician who was one of the founders of
Communal Liberation Party (TKP) and its first president. The party was
the main opposition party between 1976-1985 and he presided over 7
years of this period. His group in the party voiced strong opposition
to the policies of T/C leadership and Turkey in Cyprus. In 1981, after
a widely disputed election, he was prevented from forming a government
by direct interfence of the Turkish junta. After the foundation of
TRNC [bagimsizlik], a major division occured in the party and with
others who opposed the status quo, he has founded New Cyprus Party
(Yeni Kibris Partisi, YKP) in 1989. From the first day, the party was
threatened (and was "warned") by groups related to the Turkish
intelligence. Its members and sympathisers were threatened, harrased
and even lost their jobs. Turkish government television (TRT) --which
is widely watched in T/C community and plays a major role in shaping
the communal politics -- broadcasted open threats against the party
sometimes through the government spokesman. Every founding member
received an annonymous letter where they were openly threatened.
In 1990, following a declaration by the party, a bomb exploded in
front of Durduran's residence in a busy street in capital city
Nicosia. This was immediately followed by declarations by various
underground groups[threats]. A year later in 1991, another bomb
exploded under his car following a speech he gave. Finally, in 1992,
machine guns were fired on the party building following his comments
in a political talk show in Turkey where he stated his support for
United Nations model for a solution to the Cyprus problem (known at
that time as the Ghali Set of Ideas [ghali]). This latter is worth
expanding more since it is representative of the role played by
threats through the media. Immediately after the talk show was aired
in a Turkish television, Turkish Cypriot government TV station BRTK
and writers in several newspapers criticised Durduran and openly
threatened his party. BRTK also broadcasted this talk show several
times and these were advertised with a clip where Durduran announced
his support and it was immediately followed by commentary criticising
it.
Other party members also suffered from bombings and threats. It is
notable that in all cases, bombs were placed, guns were fired in busy,
residential areas in early hours of the day. Some neighbours were
still awake. Witnesses generally avoided comments and in 1993
gun-firing, the police was not even notified by the neighbours. Some
arrests were made after plastic explosives (used in these bombings)
were found in houses of some individuals who are close to Turkish
extremist organizations. They were released
immediately and are still public figures.
(III) Murder of columnist Kutlu Adalı
(a) Cyprus Action Network Article that was published on Znet, November
23rd, 2002 at
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=37&ItemID=2654
A Murdered Turkish Cypriot Columnist
by Eser Keskiner and Turgut Durduran; Cyprus Action Network; November
23, 2002
As any attention of the international community is focused on the
negotiations to find a solution to the Cyprus problem by the end of
the year, the European Court of Human Rights is coming closer to
announcing its verdict on a case that has drawn much attention, at
least among Cypriots. The case against Turkey is that of Mrs Adali,
the widow of well-known Turkish Cypriot author and journalist Kutlu
Adali who was assassinated in 1996.
While Turkey has had several charges brought against it in the ECHR
regarding its current occupation of northern Cyprus, the case of Mrs
Adali is one of the few examples in which a Turkish Cypriot is
charging Turkey for major human rights violations in the part of the
island it controls with the pretext of ensuring the safety of the
Turkish Cypriots (another notable pending case is that of Mr Ahmet
An).
As the date of the decision of the court nears (last hearing was on
8th October,2002), pressures have been mounting. The attention of the
international community on the high level negotiations in the past few
months has resulted in caution applied not to "upset" the
authorities. These authorities claim to represent the Turkish Cypriot
people and this caution of the international community has given them
immunity to perform several acts to silence the progressive Turkish
Cypriots opposing the current status-quo in the island. For example,
two opposition journalists were jailed in August, each for a six-month
sentence, for criticizing the "leader" of the regime in northern
Cyprus. Later they were released after a reduction of their
sentences. A quick glance at reports by organizations such as the
Reporters without Borders and Comittee for the Protection of
Journalists reveals that during the last two years the frequency of
attacks on press has increased.
In an effort to draw the attention of the international community to
the lack of human rights in northern Cyprus, we present some
background to the assasination of Mr Adali and underline the most
recent act of terrorisation and intimidation that the regime has been
applying to Mrs Adali.
Mr Kutlu Adali was a Turkish Cypriot writer and journalist who was
known for writing and publishing articles strongly critical of the
policies and practices of the Turkish Government and the authorities
of the "Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC)". He had always
claimed that Cyprus should not be divided and that Turkish and Greek
Cypriots should live in a united republic based on a pluralist
democratic system.
He had played an active role in the life of the community from the
1960s. For more than ten years, he had served as a private secretary
to Mr Denktash, the leader of the current regime in northern Cyprus,
but was removed from this position and denied his salary when he
wished to write articles critical of the policies followed by Mr
Denktash. In 1972, when he refused to work for the radio station under
the control of the TMT (Turkish Resistance Movement - the paramilitary
organisation effecting all aspects of Turkish Cypriot life during the
period), he was imprisoned without any charge or trial for one week.
During his public service and afterwards, Adali wrote articles
expressing his views about a unified Cyprus, first using a pseudonym
(due to the dangers involved in expressing his points of view using
his real name), and later, his real name. For the last seven years of
his life, he wrote regularly for "Yeniduzen", a left-wing newspaper
associated with the Republican Turkrish Party (CTP).
Kutlu Adali received various threats intended to deter him from
continuing to express his beliefs. Between January 1980 and July 1996
persons unknown subjected him to various forms of harassment. His
house was attacked with machine guns and he received frequent
threatening phone calls. Unknown people broke into his house looking
for copies of his articles, to be able to start criminal proceedings
against him, as he was writing his articles under a pseudonym.
On 17 March 1996 the "Yenidüzen" newspaper printed an article by Kutlu
Adali about an incident in which thieves had broken into a tomb in the
monastery of St Barnabas and stolen various objects of cultural
significance. He had written that the licence plates and the colours
of the thieves' cars had been noted, and the licence plates had been
traced as belonging to two members of the Civil Defence Organisation
[Footnote: translations of his articles about the St Barnabas event
and various articles outlining the connections between the Turkish
counter-intelligence and the events will be available at Cyprus Action
network web site: http://www.cyprusaction.org]. After the publication
of this article, the editor of the newspaper received a threatening
phone call from the head of the Civil Defence Organisation. Mr Adali
also began to receive frequent threatening phone calls.
On 4 July 1996 the "Yenidüzen" Newspaper published another article by
Mr Adali which strongly criticised the "Mother Country - Child
Country" policy of the Government of Turkey and that of the "TRNC".
On 6 July 1996, at around 11.35 pm, he was shot and killed in front of
his house in Nicosia by unknown persons. His wife was in Istanbul on
the night when he was killed. When she telephoned her husband at about
11.15 pm, he had told her that "they" had been threatening him. The
"TRNC" authorities refused to show Mrs Adali her husband's body. She
was told by the doctor in charge of the mortuary, Dr Ismail Bundak,
that no post-mortem had been carried out, although the body had been
x-rayed. She has never been permitted to see the x-rays. Only in
October 2002, after the ECHR ordered their release, she was shown the
photographs of the crime scene.
Mrs Adali has attempted to investigate her husband's death
herself. She found out from her neighbours that shortly before her
husband's death, a black car parked in the street. This black car was
of the same model as the car driven by "A . S", a retired police
officer who had become friendly with the family in the last months of
the applicant's husband's life. This retired police officer, "A . S"
did not appear for ten days following the death of Kutlu Adali.
Adali's neighbours told his wife that around the time her husband was
shot they had heard him begging his killers for his life. They said
that they had heard a man say that he deserved to die. The neighbours
also informed her that the electric lighting in the street outside
Adali's home went out at about 10.30 pm , leaving the area in total
darkness and was only switched on again shortly after Mr Adali had
been shot. Mrs Adali learned also from her neighbours that within only
a few minutes of the shooting about twelve military cars came and
sealed off the area and the "special teams" of the police threatened
the neighbours with guns to force them to go back inside their houses.
On 8 July 1996, pro-government newspaper "Kibris" reported that they
had received a statement from a fascist group calling itself the
Turkish Revenge Brigade claiming that they had killed Kutlu
Adali. This group is linked with the "Grey Wolves", who are the youth
movement of the Turkish Nationalist Movement Party. These in turn have
close and long-standing links with members of the Turkish armed
forces, the Turkish police, The Turkish National Intelligence Service
(MIT), the Turkish paramilitary apparatus, Turkish Ministers and the
Turkish Mafia. Same group's name appeared in various extra-judicial
murders in southeastern Anatolia during late 80s.
Three days after Kutlu Adali was killed, his family received a
telephone call from an anonymous caller, a woman, who gave the names
of two individuals who she said were responsible for Mr Adali's
murder, a Mr Hüseyin Demirci and a man whose first name is
Orhan. [Footnote: This was later reported by M. Ekmekci -- a prominent
Turkish columnist -- on August 4th, 1996 in Cumhuriyet. H. Demirci and
another individual named Orhan Ceylan tried to sue Ekmekci because of
this article. The case was later withdrawn.] The police was informed
about this phone call but refused to start an investigation, stating
that this woman was known for making false allegations to the
police. Mr Demirci had been arrested in 1990 for a murder in the Inonu
(Sinde) village, but was later released because he "had a good file at
the police" as he put it. It worked the same way in this event
too. When the 2nd assistant to the Commander General of the Police
Force, testified that on the night of the assasination, he was having
dinner with Demirci at a distant location, the suspect was
released. After a while, it was found out that Demirci was on the
payroll of the Famagusta branch of the Civil Defense Organization -
just like Cahit Huray, who was caught threatening Ilkay Adali on the
phone and was fined a miniscule amount of money for this
offense. Orhan was a colonel in the Turkish armed forces on the
island.
There have also been repeated allegations in the press that a man
called Abdullah Çatli, an extreme right-wing activist who was linked
with the "Grey Wolves", and who was allegedly instructed by some
Turkish officials to kill people suspected of being members of the
Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), was involved in the death of Kutlu
Adali. The name "Abdullah Çatli" has become very well-known after he
died in a car accident in Turkey (on 3 November, 1996) while
travelling with a member of the parliament and an ex-police chief. His
death has opened a can of worms shedding some light to the so called
"deep state" operating within the Turkish state.
A taxi-driver operating out of the Ataturk Square in Nicosia told
Ilkay Adali that in the morning following the assasination of Mr
Adali, he took Abdullah Catli to the airport. In the parliamentary
investigation of Turkey, it was later revealed that Catli had been to
Cyprus several times using the name of Mehmet Ozbay, had dined with
high-ranking military and police officials, and stayed at the Jasmine
Court Hotel belonging to the assasinated Turkish casino operator Omer
Lutfu Topal (who was later murdered allegedly by the "deep
state"). The same parliamentary investigation also found out that
Catli had met the then commander of the Turkish military forces on the
island, Mr. Hasan Kundakci at least six times in his office in
Cyprus. Kundakci was later to openly declare his admiration for Catli
in an interview he gave with the Turkish magazine, Aktuel.
On 5 March 1997 the "Yenidüzen" Newspaper published a letter signed by
the head of the "Grey Wolves" in Cyprus, which contained a threat that
left-wing journalists and writers would be killed like Kutlu
Adali. The police were given copies of this article to investigate,
but no response followed.
To better understand the reluctance of the police force in northern
Cyprus to investigate these cases, one needs only to remember that the
police force is under direct command of the Turkish military forces
whose high-ranking officers have been known to have had friendly
relations with the main suspects to say the least.
In the absence of any success by the "TRNC" police in identifying the
killers of Kutlu Adali, his wife brought the case to the European
Court of Human Rights. The harrassment against Mrs Adali in various
forms increased after this application. In December 1999 Mrs Adali had
a meeting with Professor Bakir Çaglar about her application before the
Court. Professor Çaglar, who is a former representative of the Turkish
Government in the European Court of Human Rights, allegedly told her
that she could be assassinated, if she wins her case before the Court.
In its hearing on 31 January 2002, the ECHR found the case of Mrs
Adali vs. Turkey admissible.
With the decision date of the court approaching, the psychological
pressure on Mrs Adali has been mounting. The most recent act has
included the tormenting and then killing of the Adali family dog which
was one of the witnesses of the assassination. It was found dead with
two broken legs and broken ribs in the field across the house of the
Adali family. She and other members her family have been receiving
various other forms of threats and warnings over the years. Acts of
this nature, aimed at putting immense psychological pressure on
Turkish Cypriot progressives have taken place in many forms in the
northern part of Cyprus in the past. There have been at least 31
bombings, 10 arsons, 4 gun firings and 1 murder with political
motivations since Turkey intervened in 1974 and installed a huge
military presence on the island with the alleged purpose of
guaranteeing the safety of the Turkish Cypriots. Yet, the same power
structure has more often than not been seen as the one solely
responsible for various acts of oppression aimed at the progressive
Turkish Cypriots who are working for the reunification of the island.
The decision of the ECHR to be announced shortly may, for the first
time, find Turkey guilty of a direct violation of human rights against
a Turkish Cypriot. In the coming days, the attacks of the regime
trying to prevent the opposition from "embarrassing" it in the
international arena, can be expected to increase. It is our conviction
that only when people outside Cyprus, politicians and electors,
understand that these progressive Turkish Cypriots are under attack of
the very people who claim to represent and protect them, can further
repressive acts of the regime in northern Cyprus be prevented and a
solution of the Cyprus problem be found that represents the interests
of all the people of Cyprus.
This article was written for Cyprus Action Network (CAN). CAN is a
newly founded organization linking young Cypriots living abroad and is
trying to establish branches in universities and other local youth
centers accross the world to raise awareness to human rights and
humanitarian issues about Cyprus. Supporting materials and references
along with other articles about relevant issues, as well as contact
information will be available at CAN web site at
http://www.cyprusaction.org . We acknowledge help from a variety of
other concerned organizations and invidiuals.
Eser Keskiner is a Cypriot currently working in France. Turgut
Durduran is a Cypriot studying in USA. They are active in several
human rights and peace-building organizations. They have co-founded
(with others) Peace-Cyprus.Org and Hamamboculeri.Org.
Copyleft (c), 2002, Cyprus Action Network (www.cyprusaction.org)
from Aktuel, Necdet Acan, 31/08/2000
Galip Mendi: He was in Cyprus when Kutlu Adali was
assasinated; now thanks to Denktash's special efforts,
he is there again. Once again with the ex-commander of
Civil Defense.
Ali Nihat Ozeyranli[1], the Commander of the Cyprus
Defense Forces, has left the island, leaving a large
opposition behind him. The person he passed his duty
onto is no stranger to the island: The ex-commander of
the Civi Defense Organization Galip Mendi. A name that
reminds many Cypriots of the assasinated journalist
Kutlu Adali...
On March 14 1996, one of the most important places for
the Orthodox Christian World, the historic St.
Barnabas Monastry was broken into. At 7 o'clock in the
evening, 15 soldiers, with a commander in charge
arrived at the monastry with four civilian vehicles
and locked up the three guards of the monastry into a
room. They headed directly into a historic tomb which,
until a few centuries ago, was used for religious
ceremonies. When they returned after four hours, they
had a big trunk in their hands.
The police was informed the same night that the
monastry had been broken into. Tema Irkad, the chief
investigator of the Famagusta Police Office, who was
in charge of the investigation of this incident
remembers that night: "There was a widespread security
operation planned three days in advance by the army
throughout the TRNC. When I was on duty, I heard a
[police] radio message that I had not heard to that
day. My friends told me the message was transmitted by
the radios used by the guards of the St. Barnabas
Monastry. The following morning I got the order to
'get someone trustworthy with [me] and go to the
monastry'. I thought it must have been a burglary. But
what I saw was quite different. There was an air of
terror. Everybody was sitting silently in a corner. I
said: 'What has been stolen again?' to the officer
there. 'It's not like you think', he said. As I was
talking to the guards, my boss Ahmet Zaim arrived. At
that moment, the phone rang and they called him up.
When he got the receiver, Ahmet Zaim assumed a
military posture. He kept on saying 'As you command,
sir'. Then he turned to us and said: 'Get away from
here at once'. I said 'I need to see the place they
dug up'. He got angry and said 'I say at once!'. So we
had to leave. No investigation could be made.
According to Irkad the "Stop" command had come from
the TRNC Defense Forces (the army)...
An operation for treasure?
This weird breaking-in which was passed onto the world
by Reuters was to appear in the press under the
headline of "The mafia stole from a tomb". But
according to the investigation by the Office of
Historical Remains and Museums, no icon or any
historical object had disappeared. In the file sent by
the then Minister of Education and Culture, Ahmet
Derya, to the TRNC president Rauf Denktas, Prime
Minister Hakki Atun, and Minister of State Mehmet Ali
Talat, there were testimonials of the night-guards and
an eye-witness who had spent the night at the
monastry. In these testimonials was the make and
licence plate number of one of the cars used in the
"operation": White Renault Toros, 12; CV 765.
Things started to get confusing at this point, since
this car belonged to the Civil Defense Organization.
And this was the point where the investigation into
the break-in got stuck. The general atmosphere was
"Don't investigate too much into it - you may come up
with things you wouldn't want to know about". The
parliamentary investigation committee did not even
meet once. The statement coming from the Prime
Ministry five days after the incident stated that it
was just an "operation" performed in response to an
allegation, but it was not found convincing. The Civil
Defense Organization could not be asked where the
vehicle with the identified registration number, or
the armed soldiers were at the time of the break-in.
The Culture Minister Ahmet Derya had defined the event
as a "crime" in the file he gave to the courts, but
the prosecution refused to handle the case, stating
there was "not enough evidence".
But the incident had been heard about widely. The
official at the monastry told ATV[2] that there had
been "excavations" during the
incident. The Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adali started a
series of articles in the Yeniduzen newspaper about
the incident, which most likely led to his
assasination. Using the testimony of an ex -soldier,
he wrote that during the military operation of 1974,
all the jewellery gathered from the residences of the
fleeing Greek Cypriots was buried at the St. Barnabas
Monastry, and that the goal of the "Operation of March
14" was the excavation of this "treasure of war".
According to his allegations, the military official
who had buried the jewellery in the ancient tomb had
informed "trusted colleagues" in Cyprus after he had
retired and organized the operation. In his article on
March 23 1996, Adali was asking these questions:
"1) At a time when the security forces were making
operations all through the country, how could a small
army of 15 people, equipped with modern weapons, break
into a museum with such ease?
2) Is it true that the white Renault Toros used by the
perpetrators belongs to the Civil Defense
Organization?
3) Were the perpatrators, who did not touch any of the
priceless icons, looking for the jewellery buried in
the tomb in 1974?
4) Is it true that the police, which did not make any
statement about the incident, has not even started an
investigation about it?"
The only answer Adali got was threats. According to
what his wife Ilkay Adali told Aktuel, the threats
came from the head of the Civil Defense Organization,
Galip Mendi "He personally called the newspaper and
threatened. He said 'I will blow up your newspaper,
break your arms and legs'"
The newspaper in which Adali published his articles
was not blown up, but two days after this call, on
July 6, 1996 at 23.00, Kutlu Adali was assasinated in
front of his house. At the time of the assasination,
for some reason, the two street lights in front of
Kutlu Adali's house, only 100 meters from the Civil
Defense Organization's Headquarters, were off. It was
found out that the weapon used in the assasination was
a now too-familiar (in Turkey) 9 mm UZI [3]. A
taxi-driver operating out of the Ataturk Square in
Nicosia was later to tell Ilkay Adali that in the
morning following the assasination he took Abdullah
Catli[4] to the airport. In the parliamentary
investigation (of Turkey), it was later revealed that
Catli had been to Cyprus several times using the name
of Mehmet Ozbay, had dined with high-ranking military
and police officials, and stayed at the Jasmine Court
Hotel belonging to the assasinated Omer Lutfu
Topal[5].
The day after the assasination, an ultra-nationalist
called Huseyin Demirci was arrested as a suspect.
Demirci had been arrested in 1990 for a murder in the
Inonu (Sinde) village, but was later released because
he "had a good file at the police" as he put it. It
worked the same way in this event too. When Mustafa
Asilhan, the 2nd assistant to the Commander General
of the Police Force, testified that on the night of
the assasination, he was having dinner with Demirci at
a distant location, the suspect was released. After a
while, it was found out that Demirci was on the
payroll of the Famagusta branch of the Civil Defense
Organization - just like Cahit Huray, who was caught
threatening Ilkay Adali on the phone and chagred a
miniscule amount of money for this offense.
It was not only Kultu Adali claiming that the Civil
Defense Organization was involved with "dark
business". The Secretary General of CTP (Republican
Turkish Party), the ex Forestry Minister Ferdi Sabit
Soyer believes that the forest fire of June 27, 1995
on the Besparmak (Pentadaktylos) Mountains, considered
the biggest natural disaster Cyprus ever faced, was
started by the Civil Defense Organization: "The Civil
Defense Organization has nothing to do with civil
defense. During the latest elections, it ran the
election campaign of Rauf Denktas in an organized way;
it reports to the Security Forces (Army) and is led by
a commander assigned by Turkey."
During the period of 1994-1996 when the centers of
left-wing opposition parties were bombed and the
opposition intellectuals were shot, the head of the
Civil Defense Organization was Galip Mendi. The head
of the Security Forces of the time was no other than
Hasan Kundakci, who, in an interview he gave to
Aktuel, did not hesitate in openly expressing his
admiration for Abdullah Catli.
Kundakci, who is known to have met Catli in his office
in Cyprus at least six times, was not happy about the
left-wing CTP gaining 13 seats in the parliament and
entering the government after the elections of 1993.
It was widely mentioned that he was the person
organizing the ex-military and the ex-fighters of TMT
and starting the campaign of "this government has to
go". He did not refrain from referring to the
government (to which he was, on paper, supposed to be
reporting to) as "Dirt, trouble, they will be cleaned
up by the garbage removal teams of the municipality".
In this environment, 8 bombs were planted in front of
the offices of CTP, the junior partner in the
coalition, and its members of parliament were
threatened.
About the role of Kundakci in the murder of Greek
Cypriot Solomos Solomou, the retired police-officer
Tema Irkad explains: "Kundakci gave the command
personally, 'Take him down', he said, and the police
chief Erdal Emanet pulled the trigger. The next day,
Emanet got a promotion."
At the end of their two-year assignments both Hasan
Kundakci and Galip Mendi left Cyprus in July 1996.
Kundakci was made to retire while he was expecting to
become the commander-in-chief of all Turkish armed
forces. He entered politics. Now, he is with DYP (True
Path Party - led by Tansu Ciller). As for Mendi, he
became a military atachee at the Azerbaijan Embassy of
Turkey.
Four Years Afterwards...
A day in July, four years after the assasination of
Kutlu Adali. Another ceremony for handing over duties.
The Commander of the Security Forces, Ali Nihat
Ozeyranli, who blamed the journalists with "Trason"
and "espionage", and had them thrown to jail[6], has
been promoted and is leaving the island. Replacing him
is none other than Galip Mendi. The opposition is not
a part of the ceremonies, and articles titled "Galip
in charge of us again" are appearing in their
publications. CTP Secretary General Ferdi Sabit Soyer
is expressing his discontent, saying "it is upsetting
that Mendi has been sent here". The reason for the
reaction is the same for all: The belief that Galip
Mendi, as the then commander of the Civil Defense
Organization is responsible for the assasination of
Kutlu Adali.
The island is now awaiting tensely. The answer given
to "what comes next?" is the same: "That depends on
Mendi".
[1] Ali Nihat Ozeyranli was the head of the Security
Forces in Cyprus during 1998-2000. The end of his
tenure was marked by his confronatation and insults at
the (then) deputy prime minister Mustafa Akinci, and
the imprisonment of leading columnists of the
opposition newspaper Avrupa on unfounded espionage
charges. He received an enormous reaction from the
Turkish Cypriots, and the rally organized by the "This
Homeland is Ours Platform" in July
2000 drew more than 10,000 people.
[2] ATV: A major TV channel in Turkey.
[3] "UZI" became a part of the household vocabulary in
Turkey following the accident in Susurluk in which a
member of parliament, a terrorist (Abdullah Catli)
sought by the interpol, and a high-ranking bureaucrat
were killed in a car carrying many weapons in its
trunk. The investigations revealed some of the dark
connections between the Turkish state and
ultra-nationalist terrorists like Catli - who were
supplied UZI weapons with direct orders from the
Minister of Internal Affairs.
[4] see [3]
[5] Omer Lutfu Topal was a leading owner of casinos in
Turkey, who also purchased the Jasmine Court Hotel in
Kyrenia shortly before he was killed in Istanbul (with
an UZI gun on which finger-prints of Catli were
found).
[websites] A collection of supporting documents are posted online at
"Human Rights" section of Hamamboculeri.Org
(http://humanrights.hamamboculeri.org) and Cyprus Action homepage
(http://www.cyprusaction.org/humanrights/).
[temairkad1] For an example see "Bir Cinayetin Anatomisi" (The Anatomy
of a Murder), Tema Irkad, Yenidüzen Newspaper, November 20, 2000.
[gazeteler] Both papers are available online at
http://www.kibrisligazetesi.com and http://www.volkangazetesi.com
[susurluk] ilef.ankara.edu.tr/susurluk/ , http://www.radikal.com.tr/diger/dosya/susurluk/ ,
[kibrisliinfo] The newspaper was formed immediately before
presidential elections of 2000 and acted as the main propaganda method
for pro-Denktash groups against his main contender prime-minister
Eroğlu. It is a continuation of a monthly magazine and has several
columnists such as Fuat Veziroğlu who is known for his proximity to
the Turkish intelligence. He has also served as Denktash' lawyer
during many lawsuits against politicians and newspapers. Denktash also
cited him as his "agent" in Communal Liberation Party for his
operation to fractionalize the party in 80s.
[makaleler] Clippings of the articles are available in
[1].
[wolves] http://www.ozgurluk.org/mhp/
[threats] http://www.cyprusaction.org/humanrights/terror/threats/
[ybhhomepage] Information about Patriotic Unity Movement (YBH) is
available in their homepage at http://www.yenicag-net.com .
[mucahitler] "Association of the Mujahideen" is supposed to be the
association of veteran Turkish Cypriot resistance fighters from
1960s. It has always been the mouthpiece of the leadership and has
frequently released declarations threatening opposition members. The
leadership of the association consists of individuals close to the
intelligence and other extremist associations mentioned above.
[bagimsizlik] The process that led to the so-called "Declaration of
Independence" and formation of Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus is
in itself an indicative of the undemocratic situation in north
Cyprus. An extract from an interview with Turkish Cypriot leader
Denktash outlines this story from the founding president's mouth;
"Nasil Basimsizlik ilan ettik", reference to translation and scanned
pages.
[ghali] ghali set of ideas are available at
http://www.yenicag-net.com/kitap/belgeler/ghali.htm
SUMMARY
THREE FORMS OF POLITICAL TERROR
Kıbrıslı Newspaper,
date: November, xxx, 2001
columnist: Erhan Arıklı
from the column titled "A warning to the traitors"
Kibrisli Newspaper,
date: (missing)
columnist: Erhan Arikli
from the column titled: (missing)
Volkan Newspaper,
date: (missing)
Editorial
Date: (missing)
March 31,2002
-- A bomb exploded in front of New Cyprus Party (YKP) leader Alpay
Durduran's residence in Nicosia. Kind of explosive: 1 block (450 gr)
of TNT.
-- A bomb placed in front of the headquarters of the Republican
Turkish Party (CTP) in Nicosia which did not explode despite being set
off. Kind of explosive: 3 blocks (3 x 450 gr) of TNT.
-- A bomb exploded in the garden of Republican Turkish Party (CTP)
member, member of Parliament, Fadil Cagda's residence in Kyrenia. Kind
of explosive: 1/2 block (225 gr) of TNT
-- A bomb exploded under New Cyprus Party (YKP) member Hurrem Tulga's
car outside his residence in Nicosia. Kind of explosive: 1/2 block
(225 gr) of TNT
Adali vs. Turkey - as the ECHR approaches a decision
The following is the translation of an article from
the liberal Turkish magazine Aktuel which touches on
some shady connections involved in the Adali case:
Acknowledgements
We acknowledge support from many progressive Turkish Cypriot
individuals and organizations in preparation of this document. We
specially thank Alpay Durduran, Sevgül Uludağ and Tema Irkad for
providing documents for this report. Armağan Karal, Ahmet An, Arif
Hasan Tahsin, Murat Kanatlı and Nevzat Adil have also given their
support for the preparation of this study. Hamamboculeri.Org and
Cyprus Action are two organizations that helped publication of this
study and hosted the materials.
References: