Item 3 - Buldan v Turkey, Application No 28298/95, Applicant's Submission to the Commission

3pp

First 3 pages of the observations submitted to the European Commission of Human Rights made on behalf of the applicant pertaining to revelations in the recently released Susurluk Report (commissioned by the chairman of the Prime Minister's Inspection Board) that the abduction and murder of Savaş Buldan was carried out by agents of the Turkish State. The events that led to the release of the Susurluk Report stemmed from a car crash that took place on 3 November 1996 in the small town of Susurluk, Balıkesir Province. It resulted in the deaths of three of the passengers: Abdullah Çatlı, a former ultra-rightist militant and a contract killer for the National Intelligence Organization (Turkey) (MİT), who was wanted by police for multiple murders and drug trafficking and was on Interpol's red list at the time of his death; Huseyin Kocadağ, a senior police official; and beauty queen and Çatlı's girlfriend Gonca Us. Sedat Bucak, an MP, suffered a broken leg and fractured skull but survived the accident. The Susurluk crash was a key event in the unravelling of the deep state in Turkey. The peculiar associations of the crash victims and their links with Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar led to a number of investigations, including a parliamentary investigation, of what became known as the Susurluk scandal. The scandal exposed a close relationship between the Turkish government, the ultra-nationalist paramilitary Grey Wolves organisation, and the Turkish mafia. The crash itself was shown to be an assassination arranged by the MİT. Vice President of the Police Intelligence Department Hanefi Avcı said that the gangs fell into infighting after alleged PKK financiers Behçet Cantürk and Savaş Buldan were assassinated, as the gangs had completed their mission of dismantling the PKK's financial foundation. It was later revealed that Prime Minister Tansu Çiller sanctioned the killing of businessmen who were suspected of lending financial support to the PKK. A full version of the observations is available at A44/43/1/19/1/6/1.

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