Turkish mafia
| Territory | Turkey, Azerbaijan, Germany, United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Sierra Leone, Albania, Israel, Balkans, Turkmenistan, France, Netherlands, Belgium, United States |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Turkish, Turkish Cypriot |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, arms trafficking, assassination, assault, auto theft, bank fraud, blackmailing, bribery, car bombing, contract killing, counterfeiting, extortion, forced prostitution, fraud, human trafficking, infiltration of politics, illegal gambling, insurance fraud, kidnapping, money laundering, murder, police corruption, police impersonation, political corruption, prostitution, racketeering, tax evasion, theft, witness intimidation, witness tampering |
| Allies |
British firms Albanian Mafia Sicilian Mafia Azerbaijani mafia Russian Mafia Colombian Cartels |
| Rivals | Armenian Power |
Turkish mafia (Turkish: Türk mafyası) is the general term for criminal organizations based in Turkey and/or composed of (former) Turkish citizens. Crime groups with origins in Turkey are active throughout Western Europe (where a strong Turkish immigrant community exists) and the Middle East. Turkish criminal groups participate in a wide range of criminal activities, internationally the most important being drug trafficking, especially heroin. In the trafficking of heroin they cooperate with Bulgarian mafia groups who transport the heroin further to countries such as Italy.[1] Criminal activities such as the trafficking of other types of drugs, illegal gambling, human trafficking, prostitution or extortion are committed in Turkey itself as well as European countries with a sizeable Turkish community such as Germany, Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom.
Turkish gangs and mafias also cooperate with some Laz, Zaza and Kurdish gangs. Some Turkish gangs accept non-Turkish members. Some Turkish crime syndicates have their origin in two regions: the Trabzon province on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the East and Southeast Anatolia in the south of the country.
History
The Turkish Mafia was involved in the weapons trade in the 2010s, and the heroin trade in the 2018s to present and than moved along into the women trade and human smuggling.[2]
Bekir Celenk was one of the godfathers of the Turkish mafia and was involved in the plot to assassinate pope John Paul II.[3]
Turkish crime groups
Criminal groups composed of ethnic Turks are active throughout the country and in communities with a large ethnically Turkish population. Certain Turkish criminal groups have strong links with corrupt politicians and corrupt members of the local law enforcement. They are active in different sections of organized crime and can often be linked to politically motivated groups, such as the Grey Wolves. This can especially be the case with criminals in immigrant Turkish communities.[4] Powerful and important Turkish criminal organizations mostly have their origin in the Trabzon Province[5] and incorporate members of both the ethnic Turkish and the Turkish Laz populations.
Laz crime groups
Even though crime groups composed of ethnic Turks come from all over the country, a relatively high amount of them have origins in the Black Sea region of Turkey. These groups consisting of Turkified Laz people and Turks are especially strong in the country itself. Black Sea crime bosses such as Alaattin Cakici are known from having links to or being members of the politically motivated group Grey Wolves.[6]
Turkish Cypriot crime groups
Following the substantial immigration of Turkish Cypriots to London criminal gangs composed of Turkish Cypriots were formed in working-class neighborhoods. Mainly involved in drug trafficking, armed robbery, money laundering these crime clans have more in common with the traditional White British crime firms than with the Turkish mafia
Kurdish crime groups
Some ethnically Kurdish crime groups have their origin in the Southeast Anatolia part of Turkey. These groups are believed largely clan based and their main source of income is allegedly believed to be the trafficking of heroin and weapons. Some group of those leaders, such as Huseyin Baybasin had been active in Western European countries, especially Great Britain. Some Turkish sources have accused them to have links to the PKK, but never confirmed by authorities.[7]
Zaza crime families in the United Kingdom
While ethnically Zaza groups are not noteworthy in Turkey itself, large Alevi Zaza immigrant communities have formed in Great Britain and Germany. Criminal gangs from these communities have links with other Turkish and Kurdish crime bosses and are involved in drug trafficking and contract killing. An example in London is the brutal turf war between Turkish gangs, such as the so-called Tottenham Boys and the Hackney Turks. The Tottenham Boys and Hackney are mainly Turkish gangs, but they have also some Kurdish members.[8][9]
Notable Turkish mafiosi
References
- ↑ "From opium to heroin: Turkey's gold mines < Enquiries < REPORT < Flare Network". flarenetwork.org. Archived from the original on 23 June 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ↑ Dina Siegel; H. Bunt; D. Zaitch. Global Organized Crime: Trends and Developments. p. 74.
- ↑ Jongman, Albert. Political Terrorism: A New Guide To Actors, Authors, Concepts, Data Bases, Theories, And Literature. p. 678.
- ↑ "Corruptie en georganiseerde misdaad in Turkije - aanvulling bij De diepte van de Bosporus". Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ↑ "Le nationalisme turc prospère à Trabzon". Le Figaro. Retrieved 6 May 2015.
- ↑ "Refugee Review Tribunal | AUSTRALIA RRT RESEARCH RESPONSE" (PDF). 11 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2015.
- ↑ Organized Crime. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
- ↑ "The SLAP that caused the feud that led to the London police shooting". Mail Online. Retrieved 21 May 2016.
- ↑ "BBC News - Could Turkish and Kurdish gangs become new 'mafia'?". BBC News. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
External links
- "Turkish Organized Crime - Worldpress.org". worldpress.org. Retrieved 13 August 2015.