Mafias and the Turkish state
Turkey has an ambiguous relation with its Mafias. They are repressed while cooperating with the government at the same time. They became a symbol for the Turkish deep state – an increasingly fragile entity.
Mafia clans involved in numerous traffics
Turkey has a unique position, being located between Asia and Europe. It is in fact on a logistic corridor, on which legal but also illegal commercial transit occurs. What used to be smuggling before the 1970s has evolved into the arms trade, drug trafficking and human trafficking. Implemented on the basis of a tribal, clan or even family organization, such a system can be considered mafia-like. These groups are of Turkish, Kurdish, Greek and Armenian origin, but they still act based on the principle of mutual respect. In the 1980s, mafia activities took on another dimension. Indeed, given the nature and character of the trafficking, one can be certain that the administration is corrupt and political personalities are involved.
Heterogeneous mafia groups
The origins of Turkish mafia groups are disparate. There are Kurdish clans sometimes close to the PKK and Turkish clans, some of which are close to the Grey Wolves. The vast majority of these groups are involved in heroin trafficking between Afghanistan, the producer country, and Europe, the consumer region. Turkish territory is the laboratory for refining. A fall in heroin prices while the number of consumers remains stable shows that the volume of drug trafficking is growing. While the Kurdish mafias are numerous and very involved in drug and arms trade, the mafias of Turkish origin, close to the MHP and the Grey Wolves, are equally so.
Mafia groups instrumentalized but also repressed
The Grey Wolves represent an ideological organization sometimes close to certain mafia groups. It seems this organization has been an used as an instrument to fight the Kurds of the PKK. Indeed, the Grey Wolves carry out the dirty work targeting Kurds and Armenians in Turkey but also abroad, in connection with the Turkish intelligence services. Today, this nebulous entity is sometimes likened to a deep state, a concept based on conspiracy fantasies but inspired by what Turkey experienced in the 1990s. However, this ideology still unites many radical right-wing nationalists close to the MHP, an ally of the AKP.
The coming to power in 2002 of the Islamo-Conservative AKP temporarily restored honest government in Turkey. A state’s crackdown resulted in many clan leaders being sentenced to long prison terms. But in reality, they are released a few years later without having served their full sentence. It appears that some groups still have influence on the new leaders.
The Sedat Peker affair
Sedat Peker, a figure of the Turkish mafia, is a vehement patriot and a fierce supporter of a strong state and a very broad panturic unity (Muslims, non-Muslims, Kurds except PKK). Arrested several times but released, then finally tried, he was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2007. Released in 2015, he is currently on the run abroad. Today, on his YouTube channel, he accuses high officials of the political class of corruption and various crimes related to the activities of the mafia. He accuses Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu of betraying him after protecting him. He also accused Erkan Yildirim, the son of former Prime Minister Recep Tayip Erdogan, of international cocaine trafficking. The successive revelations of Sedat Peker have the effect of a bomb which aims to discredit the government and some of its members.
Conclusion
Turkey is plagued by numerous mafia groups of all kinds. Officially combated, some groups nevertheless continue their activities in connection with high-ranking personalities. The resentment of the godfathers who have been let down by the authorities is reflected by sinister revelations that call into question the integrity and credibility of the political system.
