THE MIT IS THE ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE
THE MIT IS ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE SUSURLUK STATE
THE MIT WILL BE DISSOLVED AND THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE WILL BE BROUGHT TO JUSTICE BEFORE THE PEOPLE

THE MIT IS THE CONTRA-GUERRILLA

The period around 1965, when the MIT (Milli Istihbarat Teskilati – National Intelligence Organisation) was officially founded, was also the period in which the revolutionary struggle began to develop. The development of the revolutionary, armed struggle, especially from the 1970s under the leadership of the THKP-C (People’s Liberation Party-Front of Turkey) caused great fear among the oligarchy and imperialism. For this reason, the entire policy of counter-revolution developed in CIA centres was set in motion in order to hinder the people’s liberation struggle, which was mobilising broad sections of the people. the MIT was one of the puppetmasters of the repression and tyranny practised against the people in this period, the peoples of Turkey became witnesses of countless massacres and operations conducted by it. Within this framework, in the 1970s the MIT carried out numerous provocations. The arson attack on the Atatürk Culture Centre, the bombing of Yesilköy Airport and the Sirkeci Central Stadium, as well as the sinking of the Marmara passenger boat were among the MIT’s actions. The people’s enemy Hiram Abas was one of the chief organisers of these actions. By presenting the revolutionaries as the ones responsible for these actions, they tried to trigger off a wave of anti-communism.

THE MIT, MARCH 12 AND THE ZIVERBEY VILLA…

The CIA and the MIT, its representative in our land, also took part in organising the March 12 junta (1971). As is the case in many neo-colonial countries of the world, the CIA is also the organiser of the fascist putsches in our country such as March 12.

Before the March 12 junta, in the years around 1967 the crisis of US imperialism deepened and spread to the neo-colonial countries. To free itself from crisis, the USA militarised its economy and stepped up its aggression. While the crisis of imperialism affected our land, the March 12 junta directed by the USA came on the scene to prevent a deepening of the contradictions within the oligarchy as well as the development and expansion of the revolutionary struggle.

A war against the people was begun for the future of imperialism. So together with March 12, repression and terror expanded, code-named “Hammer Movement”. Not a single layer of the population was spared by it. The CIA and its representative in the country, the MIT, was behind March 12 and the use made of it. This was expressed by Ihsan Sabri Caglayangil in the following words. “On March 12, the CIA was present, and moreover present in great strength. Hashish was involved in March 12… It cannot be predicted how the CIA will act. As a writer, you know as much as I do.

(…) How will the CIA go about it? The CIA does it through the organic ties it has. I am speaking of the psychological influence it wields among the intelligence community.

The CIA is able to pick and choose in my intelligence service without let or hindrance.” (Örsan Öymen, March 23, 1976, Milliyet) In the case of the operations and massacres carried out against the people and the revolutionaries by the junta of March 12, the first thing that springs to mind is without a doubt the Ziverbey villa in Erenköy (a district of Istanbul). Faik Türün, Memduh Ünlütürk, Hiram Abas and Mehmet Eymür were in charge of torture and interrogations in Ziverbey.

Earlier, in around 1959, the Ziverbey villa was a place for interrogating people from the former socialist countries, especially Yugoslavia and Bulgaria.

In those years, the contra-guerrillas collated their first experiences in relation to applying torture.

The experiences collated were used on March 12 against the broadest sections of the people. The first thing the people who ended up in Ziverbey were told was: “No constitution or anything like that carries any weight here. We are from the contra-guerrilla organisation.”

In the March 12 period, Nurettin Ersin, who was later one of the coup generals of September 12 (1980), was at the head of the MIT, and his assistant then was Recep Ergün. Ziverbey villa’s indispensible man Mehmet Eymür relates quite proudly in his memoirs what his work there was and how good he was at conducting interrogations. While in these years Mehmet Eymür was section leader of the MIT’s department for counter-espionage, Hiram Abas, who had returned from the Middle East, was at the head of the department.

When thousands of people were subjected to torture in Ziverbey, Eymür and Abas were the most loyal employees the CIA had in service. They were indispensible to Duane Clarridge, who worked as the CIA section chief in Istanbul. Clarridge, who because of his “successes” in Turkey was promoted to management level in the CIA, kept up his ties to Eymür and Abas. While Clarridge last year published his memoirs, “An Agent for All Seasons”, reporting on his time in Turkey, he particularly praised Abas. Clarridge said Abas “was closer to him than his own brother”, and even after the punishment action he visited his grave. In his book, Clarridge says the following about Abas:

“Hiram was one of a kind. In his time he was the best intelligence gatherer in Turkey. This view was held by all members of the foreign intelligence community who knew him. By the end he was assistant to the chairman of the Turkish intelligence service; he was the first civilian to hold this position.”

March 12 revealed the anti-popular politics of the MIT, and its ties to the CIA were shown quite openly. So the contra-guerrilla chiefs of March 12 like Turgut Sunalp showed what kind of “patriots” they are by quite openly defending their ties to the CIA. Sunalp said the following. “The CIA’s people are not just found in Turkey but all over the world. It is not a problem that the CIA is here, and secondly it is quite natural for our intelligence service to cultivate ties with the CIA. CIA agents are not street children. They are persons who collect information for their country. ” (Zaman, November 26, 1990)

The MIT has played an active role in both torture and sentences. The state of emergency courts have acted according to the arrest warrants issued by the MIT. The MIT played a key role in the sentencing procedure.

THE MASSACRES AND “UNCLE SAM’S MEN”

The MIT took part in all massacres of revolutionaries, in the first place in Maltepe, Arnavutköy and Kizildere. People’s enemies like Mehmet Eymür and Hiram Abas personally massacred revolutionaries while taking part in these operations. The statements of Mehmet Eymür confirmed the anti-popular face of the MIT in its actions against the revolutionaries and the people. Mehmet Eymür describes the preparations for the Kizildere massacre (March 30, 1972) as follows:

“We arrived in Ünye in the afternoon, along with Nurettin Ersin, a lieutenant-general in service with the MIT, as well as the head of the Ankara department and six or seven other people from Ankara. the MIT representative on duty at the time conducted the necessary talks and ordered the MIT members to take over questioning, and he ordered the gendarmerie, in connection with the results of the questioning to take charge of arrests as well as the storming. (…) Cayan and his friends continued their songs and from time to time annoyed the soldiers. They recognised us from our civilian clothing. They tried to annoy us with expressions like ‘Uncle Sam’s men’ and ‘fascist the MIT members’. We were about 150 to 200 metres from them. We also gave them an answer. They tried to influence the soldiers with statements like that they should not obey the orders of fascist generals.” (Mehmet Eymür, Analiz, pages 90-96)

People like Abas and Eymür tried to uphold the system with terror and massacres. They were constantly promoted as a reward for their torturing, provocations and executions. Hiram Abas, who was trained in American schools , boasted of his participation in at least 150 operations which he carried out up to his retirement. People’s justice, which found and punished Hiram Abas, demanded a reckoning from him because of the operations of which he was so proud.

CIA-MIT-MOSSAD

The operations of the MIT within the framework of the CIA’s policies were not restricted to the territory of our land. In many countries, in particular in the socialist countries and the Middle East, the MIT organised and supported attacks against the people, provocations and murders. Especially with organisations like MOSSAD and SAVAK (the Shah of Iran’s security service), the MIT made the blood of the peoples of the Middle East flow. The ties between the MIT and MOSSAD have existed for a long time. While US imperialism developed its ties with the neo-colonial countries, it gave Turkey-Israel-Iran the role of gendarmes in the Middle East to secure its own interests in the region. For this reason the “intelligence services” maintained very close contacts with one another. Secret talks with Israel began in 1958 and were continued in subsequent years. The second chairman of the MIT, Sabahattin Savasman, who was arrested in 1977 on the charge of having sold information to the CIA, told at various meetings the following information about ties among the rulers:

“In connection with the activities of the left and the national minorities in every land, in regard to terror and with measures in regard to terrorist Palestine, two or three relationships are developed (…) !!!!! (Translator’s note: the exclamation marks at this point reflect the fact that, in public, the oligarchy in Turkey usually presents itself as being friendly to Palestinian aspirations.)

“MOSSAD, with its technical superiority, plays a dominant role in these talks, as a rule. In our land too it has created wide-ranging possibilities for itself.” (Recounted by Suat Parlak, “Turkey in the Grip of the Contra- Guerrillas”, page 232)

The name of Hiram Abas takes first place in the actions of the MIT in the Middle East. Hiram Abas was active in Beirut in the years 1968-71. Together with MOSSAD he planned and carried out numerous attacks on the peoples of the Middle East, especially the Palestinian people. He massacred revolutionaries who sought to set up a camp in the Middle East and carry out educational work as well as other activities. His hands were stained with the blood of many revolutionaries. Sabahattin Savasman calls Hiram Abas a person who “took part in joint operations with the CIA in Lebanon, winning for himself a considerable salary and financial rewards, targeting left-wing youths in the Palestinian camps and receiving bounty for the results he achieved in actions.”

The ties between the MIT and MOSSAD continue today and are being stepped up. The Susurluk events brought to light how Israel has trained Turkey, and the treaty between Turkey and Israel has intensified their contacts.

MASS MURDER AND THE MIT

In the face of the expansion of the revolutionary struggle, the contra- guerillas stepped up civil fascist terror after 1974, and one mass murder followed another.

The MIT was one of the organisations most responsible for the massacres of May 1, 1977, March 16 in Sivas, Corum and Maras (Translator’s note: violent events in the 1970s, pogroms which were brought about by the inflaming of Sunni hostility towards the Alevis. In Maras in December 1978, for example, hundreds were killed, most of them Alevis).

The MIT was present on May 1, 1977. Hiram Abas, Nejdet Kücüktaskiner and Mete Bozbere are only some of the MIT staff members whose names crop up in connection with this massacre. The Intercontinental Hotel, from which shots were fired on the masses, belongs to the imperialist company ITT. On this day even the hotel’s employees were denied access and the only people in the rooms were police torturers and the MIT agents. Oktay Ergin, who previously came to be known in 1955 in connection with the bombing of Atatürk’s house in Salonika (Greece), also took part in the May 1, 1977 action. On May 1, Ergin gave the head of security forces in the police headquarters the task of carrying out “deflection measures”. The same Oktay Ergin stained his hands with the people’s blood again in the March 16 massacre.

In areas where the revolutionary struggle was developing and Alevis and Sunnis were living in harmony, such as in Sivas, Corum, Amasya and Maras, the main work of the contra-guerrillas consisted of splitting the people on the basis of nationality and religious belief. Accordingly, red, yellow and green areas were created. People were targeted in the red and yellow areas. Civil fascists were chiefly used to carry out these massacres. A fascist said the following in his confession:

“The massacres were a provocation by the MIT. With the provocations by the MIT and the CIA the ground was prepared for the September 12 coup. The second secretary of the American consulate provoked the clashes between Alevis and Sunnis in Merzifon, Corum, Sivas, Amasya and Erzincan.” (Günes, September 3, 1987)

The CIA played a personal role in all areas. This is an example from Amasya in 1979. Hasan Fehmi Günes recounts: “In 1979 the mayor of Amasya, Gündüz T rem, said that an American had come and wanted to speak to him. Amasya is a sensitive spot. The MHP (note: Nationalist Movement Party, the main explicitly far right party in Turkey) was well organised here. The man was named Peck and he was active in the US embassy.

(…) He asked questions about contradictions between Alevis and Sunnis, as well as between the left and the right, and he was ‘interested to see when and to what extent a clash between them could come about’. The governor had received him as a guest in a state establishment. Peck did not feel at ease there. Early in the morning he went to have breakfast in a place called Saracoglu Institution, which is known to be a meeting point for MHP supporters. (…) He always asked the same questions. He wanted to know ‘where a spark could set off an explosion’.” (Cuneyt Arcayürek,, “Putsches and Secret Services”, pages 221-222)

SEPTEMBER 12 AND THE MIT

As had already happened on March 12, CIA and the MIT played an active role. Whether against the increasing political crisis of the oligarchy, or against the rise in the revolutionary struggle, or against unequal developments in the Middle East, the American fascist military junta of September 12 was brought about. The news “Paul, your boys have done it,” cheered up the USA greatly. The American President Carter, who was at theatre when he received the glad news that “there is nothing to worry about. The forces that were supposed to become involved did so,” said on this subject years later that “before the September 12 movement, Turkey was in a critical situation with regard to its defences. After the intervention in Afghanistan and the overthrow of the Iranian monarchy, the movement for stabilisation in Turkey came as a relief to us.” (Cumhuriyet, July 21, 1988)

Among the members of the General Staff of September 12 were the murderers from March 12, Nurettin Ersin, the MIT secretary during September 12, was commander of ground forces in the National Security Council of the September 12 junta. His deputy at that time, Recep Ergün, was in charge of the state of emergency in Ankara. Their experiences culled from March 12 were now used on hundreds of thousands of arrested people. They tortured, filled the jails to overflowing, murdered and made people disappear. They used every form of repression and terror.

The National Security Council , with the help of the MIT, organised a gang of bloodthirsty fascists abroad. Oral Celik, one of the fascist murderers used by the contra-guerrillas, said the following to the Susurluk Committee: “After September 12, I worked with Abdullah Catli in the interests of the state. Very highly-placed state officials suggested to us in France in 1981 that we should combat the ASALA (Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia) organisation. Our idealist-minded comrades (translator’s note: fascists from Turkey call themselves “ülkücüler”, or “idealists”) in Europe rejected that. Abdullah Catli, myself and two other friends accepted the state’s offer. (…)

With A. Catli and the two other friends we went to France, the USA, Canada and Beirut. In these countries we conducted a struggle against ASALA.”

Persons like A. Catli and O. Celik were not simply used against ASALA. They also did heroin business on behalf of the oligarchy. In the MIT report for 1988, the involvement of one of the chiefs of September 12 in drugs smuggling is note.
Kenan Evren, who despite these developments sought to keep his name out of it, cannot conceal the true face of the MIT in his statement:

“Secret services can make use of any scoundel or character. Such matters cannot be a subject fit for presidential level. I have just heard Abdullah Catli’s name for the first time. the MIT knows about this matter.” (Kurtulus, January 11, 1997, p15)

However, Evren is the one reponsible for all developments after September 12 . It is impossible that he knows nothing about the activities of an institution which he directed through his brother-in-law. Negotiations with the bloodstained fascists were conducted through the National Security Council. The fascist Haluk Kirci confessed that the National Security Council accommodated the wishes of Abdullah Catli. In these talks the matter of releasing and lifting the death sentence on Haluk Kirci and Alparslan Türkes was raised. (Translator’s note: Türkes was the leader of the MHP. He was actually sentenced to death following the September 12, 1980 military coup because of killings carried out by his party during the violence of the 1970s. However, later Türkes was not only pardoned but released, and he resumed his place as a prominent figure in the oligarchy’s politics up to his death in 1997.) O. Celik also expressed the situation as follows: “We have enjoyed the support of high officials in this state. These were people standing higher than Mehmet Eymür.”

Hiram Abas, who wanted to retire from the MIT before September 12, continued working for a time after the junta begun. After he retired, he worked with Halit Narin, the head of TISK (Turkish Employers’ Confederation). He was in charge of security and was on the board. He continued massacres and provocations also after his retirement. In 1982 and 1983 Hiram Abas was entrusted with the counter-attack against the Armenians. Mehmet Eymür describes developments then as follows:

“In this period, the Armenians began to murder Turkey’s representatives abroad from time to time. Our seniors stated at the funeral ceremonies that these actions would receive an answer and the ‘blood of those murdered would not go unavenged’. For a time, these words were not taken seriously. The (Ziverbey) villa called Hiram to come there and he was sworn to obtain vengeance. It would be disadvantageous if he was seen with a staff member of the villa, but the villa would handle payment. Hiram got ready. Saving Turkey’s reputation rested in his hands…” (Mehmet Eymür, Analiz, page 162)

THE TIES BETWEEN ÖZAL AND HIRAM ABAS

Özal named Hiram Abas, who during his “retirement” acceded to every request the state made on him, became a deputy of the MIT secretary.

Özal never parted from Hiram Abas. He even preferred to talk to him rather than to the MIT secretary. Even in family matters he turned to him. Hiram Abas was called Özal’s “James Bond”. During the visit to Syria by Özal in 1987, Abas told journalists he was a “hunter of the left”, thus demonstrating his hostility towards the people. For his part, Mehmet Eymür was during this period president of the Security Committee which had just been founded by the CIA. He worked with Hiram Abas.

When Abas was entrusted with his the MIT task, discussions about making the MIT “more civilian” were all the rage. Actually these discussions, which reflected the internal contradictions of the MIT, were artificial. It did not matter whether or not the MIT staff members were civilians. The MIT is like all other institutions, tied to the National Security Council. It is an organisation which carries out murders and massacres and is accordingly organised in a military manner to participate in a civil war. And in the periods in which civilians were the MIT secretaries, they too continued the torture, massacres, disappearances and mafia policies which are their real task.

THE MIT REPORT AND THE DISGRACEFUL DEEDS UNCOVERED BY IT

The MIT report was caused by the internal contradictions of the oligarchy. Finally, the disgraceful deeds of the state come to light through these contradictions. The filth in the system came to the surface more and more clearly, specifically concerning persons like Generals Nejdet Ürug and Tahsin Sahinkaya, torturer policemen such as Mehmet Agar and Ünal Erkan, and the MIT members like Nuri Gündes.

All state institutions were implicated in these shameful deeds, ranging from anti-people behaviour to prostitution, from drug-dealing to corruption. Here are some examples of this foulness which were cited in the report.

“In the interrogation of Dündar Kilic, the name of Nuri Gündes came up in connection with the extortion of money from non-Muslims, something he did together with Sükrü Balci, the Istanbul governor Nevzat Ayaz and Fahrettin Aslan; later, however, this matter was covered up. The names Cengiz Abaoglu, Haci Ali Aslan, a relative of Nuri Gündes, and some other the MIT agents were involved in this affair. According to information which was disseminated in this period, Nuri Gündes was supposed to have: 1) under the protection of Erkan Sert and Turan Cevik, obtained 60 million TL from the Basak Group, 2) in the same period put the MIT staff member Nihat Yildiz into the Basak Holding Company, 3) had the debts of Basak Holding, which amounted to over 300 million lira, cancelled after putting pressure on the bank manager… 5) assisted Emin Cankurtaran in customs matters. In this connection, with the help of Birol Kalkan, the director of the Kapikule customs authority, he was supposed to have helped Emin Cankurtaran out of a jam, when a long- distance vehicle belonging to him was held up on the border near Edirne. In return, he was to shield Birol Kalkan from proceedings in the Mataraci trial.”

So the “National” Intelligence Organisation was preoccupied with matters like that! The report, which was prepared by Mehmet Eymür, led to long discussions among the oligarchy. The task of removing the filth that was swirling about was allotted to Kutlu Savas, as in the Susurluk period. Hiram Abas, Mehmet Eymür and Korkut Eken were given “leave” for a while. However, their separation from the MIT did impede their work. Under the control of the state, Hiram Abas was involved in numerous developments in the Middle East and in the country. The oligarchy made use of his “experiences”.For example, during the Gulf Crisis he prepared reports for Özal. For his part, Korkut Eken trained death squads together with the CIA and MOSSAD. They were always a part of the contra-guerrilla activities of the state.

MURDERS, DISAPPEARANCES AND “MURDERS BY PERSONS UNKNOWN”

The 1990s were both a period in which the class and national struggles developed in our land, as well as a period in which the murder, massacre, torture and execution policies of the contra-guerrilla state were stepped up against these struggles. During this period, countless operations against the people, against the revolutionaries and the patriots were organised. The land was brought close to being a bloodbath. While people were murdered in the streets, thousands were made to disappear while under arrest and thousands more were murdered by “persons unknown”. Kurdistan was reduced to rubble and millions of people were turned into refugees.

The MIT was implicated in all operations and massacres against the people. It took part in all operations directed against the revolutionary movement. Together with the upsurge in Devrimci Sol in 1990, the MIT stepped up its provocation. The MIT, an institution of the contra-guerrillas, is responsible for the murder of Muammer Aksoy, Bahriye Ucok, Ugur Mumcu and other intellectuals and journalists. It is the organiser of the murders.

In the Susurluk period the anti-people face of the MIT was more clearly revealed . Despite all the efforts of the National Security Council, these disgraceful deeds could not be kept secret. For example, Hanefi Avci told the Susurluk Committee, that Mehmet Eymür, Lieutenant Kasif and Durman Firat were the long arms of the MIT. Hanefi Avci reported on the connection between Mehmet Eymür and Yesil, which was also made use of by Catli. “Investigations as to whom Mahmut Yildirim, also known as Yesil, conversed with on his telephone and cellular phone have come up with the name Mehmet Eymür. There were not just a few but hundreds of telephone calls and meetings between the two. If Eymür wants to deny that, I can produce a list of the telephone conversations.”

Eymür, who is accountable to a court because of Hanefi Avci’s statements, stated that the MIT used Catli for a while but he did not know him personally. This lie was exposed by Korkut Eken who told the Susurluk Commission that he got to know Catli at the same time as Eymür did.

The words of Eymür on July 2, 1997 before the State Security Court openly represent the reality of Susurluk. Eymür said the following: ” … If the state profits from it, some crimes can be overlooked. For us it is important who uses whom. We are the state. It is important that we do the exploiting.” (Recounted by Niyazi Ünsal, “State Terror”, page 479)

While everything was fundamentally clear and open to everyone, the MIT member and at the same time general commanding the gendarmerie Teoman Koman even denies the existence of the JITEM (gendarmerie intelligence service) and – even if only for show – he does not feel moved to testify before the Susurluk Commission.

And also in the Susurluk report compiled by Kutlu Savas, an attempt is made to exonerate the MIT and to make a few people the scapegoats for all the dirt.

Also in regard to “Yesil”, who was used by the MIT, Kutlu Savas gave advice, and he noted that the MIT could make use of anyone but this had to remain “within a certain framework”. If the state needs it, it should be possible for fascists in touch with the mafia to carry out murders, but it should be within a “certain framework”, and should not be “made public”.

WHO IS USING THE MIT

Nowadays, when Alaatin Cakici was arrested, everyone is talking of the mafia nature of the organisation for carrying out massacres, the MIT. The MIT does not just engage in repression and terror against the people. It is involved in every kind of dirty business, such as the drugs trade, extortion and prostitution.

In the Susurluk report of Kutlu Savas, it is said: “that a respectable organisation like the MIT can have ties to persons who enjoy less respect is understandable. But it is necessary to explain the friendly and close relations between them.” The MIT secretary at the time, Sönmez Köksal, said perfectly calmly: “Do you think the MIT always works with respectable people?” It is much easier to understand why persons like Alaatin Cakici, Abdullah Catli, Yesil and Hadi Özcan were made use of. For example, looking at the activities the MIT conducted together with Hadi Özcan, the nature of the “honour” of the MIT and the people used by it becomes clearer. A concrete example of this is the following telephone conversation between a the MIT member and Hadi Özcan: “H.Ö – There are 30 to 40 of us here. With the tombola, we have been able to make at least 10 billion lira in a month. He knows that now. Trafficking in women is freely permitted, they get in the way of the tombola playing. Now it’s winter. If you give 50 million each to 40 people, that makes two billion. I have handed out four billion.”

THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE MIT IS THE STRUGGLE AGAINST THE SUSURLUK STATE

Today the MIT is the dirty, murderous and mafia face of the Susurluk state, like all the institutions of this system. the MIT bears responsibility for the disappeared, for massacres and torture. The blood of our peoples is stuck to the hands of Senkal Atasagun, Mehmet Eymür and Yavuz Atac. For years they have tried to make the people submit through terror and tyranny. They have used every kind of oppression. With blood and massacres they have tried to keep the corrupt system going.

Their oppression and their cruelties have gone beyond the limits of our country’s frontiers and all oppressed peoples are a target. The disgraceful acts of the MIT have come to light. Events have clearly shown that the MIT is the state and the MIT is Susurluk…