Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele

Jandarma İstihbarat ve Terörle Mücadele (abbr. "JİTEM", in _en. Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counterterrorism) is a wing of the Turkish Gendarmerie, active in the Turkey-PKK conflict. [cite news|url=http://turkishdailynews.com.tr/archives.php?id=1902
accessdate=2008-10-09
title=PKK confessors turn into state hitmen
work=Turkish Daily News
date=1997-01-17
first=Zeki
last=Ayik ] According to Murat Belge of Istanbul Bilgi University, JITEM is an embodiment of the deep state. [cite news|url=http://www.taraf.com.tr/haber.asp?id=1177
accessdate=2008-08-14
title=2009’da kıyamet gibi kan akacaktı
work=Taraf
first=Neşe
last=Düzel
date=2008-01-28
language=Turkish
quote=Derin devlet gene askerî bünye içinde oluşuyor ama artık derin devlet MİT değil. Bugün derin devlet JİTEM.] The daily "Sabah" said it was related to the Ergenekon network, a recently-uncovered nationalist underground organization. [cite news|url=http://english.sabah.com.tr/169DC79975FD4447B0B37835E0550F59.html
accessdate=2008-08-26
title=Assassinations lead to JITEM
section=National
work=Sabah
date=2008-08-25
quote=JITEM, considered to be the ancestor of the Ergenekon organization.... ]

Does it exist?

Commanders in the Turkish Gendarmerie have repeatedly denied the existence of an overarching intelligence organization within the gendarmerie. [cite news|url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/pazar/3542856.asp?gid=59
accessdate=2008-09-05
title=Bir var bir yok. Hem var hem yok JİTEM
work=Hürriyet
first=Serhan
last=Yedig
language=Turkish
date=2005-11-20
quote=Aynı dönemde Genelkurmay Başkanı Doğan Güreş, Jandarma Genel Komutanı Teoman Koman başta olmak üzere birçok yetkili ‘JİTEM adında bir örgüt hiç olmadı’ deyip kamuoyunun ruhuna serin su serpmişti.] Since the Susurluk scandal, news reports to the contrary have been surfacing. Revelations have recently come from an informant named Abdülkadir Aygan (a former PKK member recruited by JITEM, [cite news|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/2008/08/25/haber,9CF3200315EB4BD5AD6E9FA2AAE87B4B.html
accessdate=2008-08-27
title=Hem PKK'nın hem de JİTEM'in itirafçısı Aygan
work=Sabah
date=2008-08-25
language=Turkish
first=Ferhat
last=Ünlü
quote=Ben hem PKK'nın hem de JİTEM'in itirafçısıyım. Ama hain değilim, kendimi hain hissetmiyorum. Çünkü hainlerin yaptıklarını açıkladım.] now a political refugee in Sweden [http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=151356&bolum=100 Okkan assassination linked to JİTEM] , "Today's Zaman", 27 August 2008] ) that it was founded by retired general Veli Küçük, arrested in the Ergenekon investigations. [cite news|url=http://www.zaman.com.tr/haber.do?haberno=645648
title=Cem Ersever'in kayıp arşivi Veli Küçük'ün evinden çıktı iddiası
work=Zaman
accessdate=2008-08-19
date=2008-01-31
language=Turkish
quote=Ben JİTEM'in kurucusu olarak biliniyorum. Kanunda yeri olan bir birimdir. Bu bende bir meslek hastalığı olarak niteleyebileceğim arşivleme alışkanlığından dolayı bana görev sırasında değişik yerlerden ulaşan belgeleri dosyalayarak muhafaza ettim. Emekli olduktan sonra da bu şekilde gelen belgeleri arşivledim. Beni seven insanlar da bu tür bilgi ve belge akışını bana sağlarlar. Evimde bulunan gizlilik niteliği yüksek olan belgeleri arşivlemem, karakterimin ve alışkanlığımın bir yansımasıdır. Aynı zamanda yazıya dökülen gizli konuşma kayıtları da bunun içinde yer alıyor. Evimde, gündemdeki Ergenekon, Lobi gibi belgelerin orijinal nüshalarının çıkması da arşivleme hastalığımdan kaynaklanmaktadır.] Other people allegedly involved in its founding are Ahmet Cem Ersever, Arif Doğan, [cite news
url=http://yenisafak.com.tr/Gundem/?i=135387
title=JİTEM'ci Albay'dan uyuşturucu servisi!
work=Yeni Şafak
date=2008-08-19
accessdate=2008-08-19
quote=Kardeşim ben Jitem'in kurucusuyum. Bana gramlık uyuşturucunun hesabını soruyorsunuz. Bunları görev icabı ihtayacı olanlara veriyorum. Si....m uyuşturucusunu.
first=Fatih
last=İnci
language=Turkish] [cite news|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/Siyaset/HaberDetay.aspx?aType=HaberDetay&Kategori=siyaset&ArticleID=979078&Date=16.08.2008&b=%27J%C4%B0TEM%E2%80%99in%20uygulac%C4%B1s%C4%B1yd%C4%B1m%27
title=Emekli Albay Doğan: JİTEM’in uygulacısıydım
work=Milliyet
first=Turker
last=Karapinar
accessdate=2008-08-19
date=2008-08-16
quote=Ergenekon’la alakam yoktur. Ergenekon’u soruşturma aşamasında duydum. 21 yıl dağlarda görev yaptım. JİTEM’in de dağlarda uygulayıcısıydım.
language=Turkish] Hasan Kundakçı, Hüseyin Kara, Hulusi Sayın and Aytekin Özen, according to Aygan. [cite news
url=http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=132811
title=JITEM hitman: Veli Küçük conceals masterminds
work=Zaman
first=Melik
last=Duvakli
accessdate=2008-08-11
date=2008-01-30]

After being taken into custody, Arif Doğan confessed to being the founder of the organization, originally known as the Intelligence Group Command ( _tr. İstihbarat Grup Komutanlığı), and that in 1990 he handed the reins to Veli Küçük, who has been detained in the frame of the Ergenekon investigations. [cite news|url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/Siyaset/HaberDetay.aspx?aType=HaberDetay&ArticleID=980869&Kategori=siyaset&Date=21.08.2008&b=J%DDTEM%92i%20ben%20kurdum,%20Veli%20K%FC%E7%FCk%92e%20devrettim&ver=13
accessdate=2008-08-21
title=JİTEM’i ben kurdum, Veli Küçük’e devrettim
work=Milliyet
date=2008-08-21
language=Turkish
first=Tolga
last=Şardan
coauthors=Karapinar, Turker
quote=1990’da Jandarma İstihbarat Grup Komutanlığı görevimi kendisine devrettim. Bu sırada yarbay olarak görev yapıyordum. Görev alanımız Türkiye geneliydi. Küçük ise albaydı.]

The organisation's existence was not doubted by Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit, who declared on 15 January 1998, concerning the Susurluk scandal: [http://www.tihv.org.tr/EN/data/Yayinlar/Human_Rights_Reports/Ra1998HumanRigthsReport.pdf 1998 Report] , Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, chapter II, "SUSURLUK SCANDAL: Counter-guerilla Affairs", p.39-86 (see quote on p.40)]

It seems that some illegal methods were employed within the state during the anti-terrorist struggle. In the report, some military people are mentioned, but the report implies that the army as a whole was not involved in such affairs. I am glad to hear that. If the army had been involved in such affairs, it would have been highly difficult for us to solve the problem. On the other hand, the situation of the Gendarme is a bit complex because its affiliation is to both the army and the Ministry of Interior Affairs. That's an outcome of the report. JİTEM seems corrupted.

The Human Rights Foundation of Turkey also quoted the Susurluk report, and stated: [ [http://www.tihv.org.tr/EN/data/Yayinlar/Human_Rights_Reports/Ra1998HumanRigthsReport.pdf 1998 Report] , Human Rights Foundation of Turkey, chapter II, "SUSURLUK SCANDAL: Counter-guerilla Affairs", p.46]

The report prepared by Prime Ministry Inspection Board Deputy Chairman Kutlu Savaş mentioned JİTEM as involved in gang activities. However, JİTEM is among the "state secrets" of Prime Minister Mesut Yılmaz. Yılmaz accepted the existence of JİTEM but argued that "military officials were not involved and they intervened when they learned about it." Yılmaz carefully tried to relieve military officials, the Gendarme's former Commander General Teoman Koman from responsibility. Deputy Prime Minister Bülent Ecevit said, "JİTEM is mentioned in the report. However, the Gendarme and JİTEM are not equal to the army."

Structure

Among the alleged members are ex-PKK-operatives ( _tr. İtirafçı), besides non-commissioned officers and a few officers of the Gendarmerie. Former JITEM operative Abdülkadir Aygan discussed the structure and activities of JITEM in an interview with Ferhat Ünlü for "Sabah". [cite news|url=http://www.sabah.com.tr/2008/08/25/haber,C3735BB84B9D496D963C3646A8B0A5EB.html
accessdate=2008-08-27
title=Suikastların adresi hep JİTEM'e çıkıyor
date=2008-08-25
work=Sabah
language=Turkish
first=Ferhat
last=Ünlü]

Officially the intelligence personnel in the Turkish Gendarmerie are organized in small teams answerable to their local commander, co-ordinated by the Intelligence Group Command.

Activity

Numerous people who claim to be or are purported to be JİTEM operatives has been accused of crimes such as kidnapping, intimidation, and extrajudicial killings of alleged PKK operatives. A criminal court in Diyarbakır has ruled in a case in 2006 that 11 ex-PKK-operatives charged with kidnapping, assassination, and bombing were military personnel and should be tried in a military court.cite news
url=http://www.milliyet.com.tr/2006/02/16/guncel/gun01.html
title=JİTEM vardır!
work=Milliyet
date=2006-02-16
accessdate=2008-07-25
language=Turkish
quote=Jandarma Genel Komutanı Teoman Koman: 'Jandarma teşkilatı içinde JİTEM adında legal ya da illegal bir örgüt kurulmamıştır, yoktur. Ama jandarma dışında bu ismi kullanıp kanunsuz işler yapan bir grup vardır'.]

JİTEM's chief, Arif Doğan, was tried in the frame of the Yüksekova Gang (aka "the gang with uniforms"). According to "Today's Zaman", the "Yüksekova Gang was an illegal organization formed in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari, headed by three high ranking military personnel and various politicians, that smuggled drugs and weapons."Duvakli, Melik, [http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=151355 JİTEM’s illegal actions cost Turkey a fortune] , "Today's Zaman", 27 August 2008.] Its activities were first revealed in 1996, in the aftermaths of the Susurluk scandal. Its activities are "are only one part of the JİTEM activities" that have been sent to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). All of the local court prison sentences concerning the Yüksekova Gang were cancelled by the High Court of Appeals of Turkey, leading the ECHR to fine Turkey 103,000 euros for its decisions about the Yüksekova Gang.

The 2003 assassination of General Eşref Bitlis has been linked to JITEM and Ergenekon. According to court condemnations, the November 2005 bombings in Şemdinli, in Hakkâri Province in the south-east of Turkey, have also been false flag attacks, attributed to the PKK but carried out by JITEM. [cite news|url = http://www.turkishdailynews.com.tr/article.php?enewsid=49228 |title = Court says senior officers involved in Şemdinli bombing |work=Turkish Daily News|date=2006-07-19|accessdate = 2008-08-14]

Former JITEM operative Aygan claimed that the gendarmerie unit had been responsible of the 2001 assassination of Kurdish-friendly Diyarbakır Police Chief Okkan. A member of the Turkish Hizbullah had received a life sentence in this case, but Hizbullah had not claimed the killing. According to the Van prosecutor, the JITEM bombing aimed at pressuring the Turkish state to block further freedoms for Kurds, thus jeopardizing Turkey's negotiations with the European Union. Aygan also said to investigators that he had been part of a unit, alongside Cem Ersever and Arid Doğan, which had assassinated 72-year-old Kurdish writer Musa Anter in 1992 in Diyarbakir. Turkey was found guilty of this murder in 2006 by the ECHR, who sentenced Turkey to a fine of 28,500 euros.

Files about JİTEM were discovered during the 2008 Ergenekon investigation, relating the Ergenekon group to the assassination of former JİTEM commander Cem Ersever, killed in November 1993. [http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=150071 Ergenekon indictment reopens gendarmerie major’s murder case] , "Today's Zaman", 13 August 2008.]

References

Further reading

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External links

The pro-Kurdish "Özgür Gündem" has published a series of interviews: [http://www.gundemonline.org/haber.asp?haberid=43287] , [http://www.gundemonline.org/haber.asp?haberid=43288] , [http://www.gundemonline.org/haber.asp?haberid=43290] , [http://www.gundemonline.org/haber.asp?haberid=43292] , [http://www.gundemonline.org/haber.asp?haberid=43295] , [http://www.gundemonline.org/haber.asp?haberid=43296]