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The '''2000 Istanbul raids''' ({{Lang-tr|2000 İstanbul baskınları}}) were Turkish raids on safehouses operated by the [[Kurdish Hezbollah]] on January 17, 2000. The raids resulted in the death of [[Hüseyin Velioğlu]] and severely weakened Hezbollah. The main raid was in [[Beykoz]], while other raids were done in [[Üsküdar]] and [[Ümraniye]].<ref name="aay">{{cite journal |author=Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı |date=June 2000 |title=Murder on the Bosphorus |url=http://www.meforum.org/57/murder-on-the-bosporus |journal=Middle East Quarterly |volume=VII |issue=2 |pages=15–22 |access-date=26 July 2012}}</ref> The raids were described as being the events that marked the beginning of Hezbollah's “decline”.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hizballah in Turkey Revives: Al-Qaeda’s Bridge between Europe and Iraq? {{!}} The Washington Institute |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/hizballah-turkey-revives-al-qaedas-bridge-between-europe-and-iraq |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=www.washingtoninstitute.org |language=en}}</ref> |
The '''2000 Istanbul raids''' ({{Lang-tr|2000 İstanbul baskınları}}) were Turkish raids on safehouses operated by the [[Kurdish Hezbollah]] on January 17, 2000. The raids resulted in the death of [[Hüseyin Velioğlu]], and severely weakened Hezbollah. The main raid was in [[Beykoz]], while other raids were done in [[Üsküdar]] and [[Ümraniye]].<ref name="aay">{{cite journal |author=Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı |date=June 2000 |title=Murder on the Bosphorus |url=http://www.meforum.org/57/murder-on-the-bosporus |journal=Middle East Quarterly |volume=VII |issue=2 |pages=15–22 |access-date=26 July 2012}}</ref> The raids were described as being the events that marked the beginning of Hezbollah's “decline”.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hizballah in Turkey Revives: Al-Qaeda’s Bridge between Europe and Iraq? {{!}} The Washington Institute |url=https://www.washingtoninstitute.org/policy-analysis/hizballah-turkey-revives-al-qaedas-bridge-between-europe-and-iraq |access-date=2024-01-22 |website=www.washingtoninstitute.org |language=en}}</ref> |
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==Background== |
==Background== |
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== References == |
== References == |
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{{Reflist}} |
{{Reflist}} |
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[[Category:Istanbul]] |
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[[Category:Turkey]] |
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{{Uncategorized|date=January 2024}} |
Revision as of 22:00, 27 January 2024
2000 Istanbul raids | |||||||
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Part of the Kurdish–Turkish conflict | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Turkey | Kurdish Hezbollah | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Bülent Ecevit Niyazi Palabıyık |
Hüseyin Velioğlu † Edip Gümüş (POW) Cemal Tutar (POW) | ||||||
Units involved | |||||||
General Directorate of Security
| Military wing |
The 2000 Istanbul raids (Turkish: 2000 İstanbul baskınları) were Turkish raids on safehouses operated by the Kurdish Hezbollah on January 17, 2000. The raids resulted in the death of Hüseyin Velioğlu, and severely weakened Hezbollah. The main raid was in Beykoz, while other raids were done in Üsküdar and Ümraniye.[1] The raids were described as being the events that marked the beginning of Hezbollah's “decline”.[2]
Background
Although Hezbollah has strong nationalist sentiments and is openly against Turkey, the Turkish government was initially accused of "turning a blind eye" to Hezbollah due to them both being against the PKK, although Turkey began a crackdown on Hezbollah after Hezbollah began attacking Turkish government officials and law enforcement.[3] Niyazi Palabıyık, who was the Deputy Chief of Police, of the Intelligence Branch Directorate of the Turkish General Directorate of Security during the premiership of Bülent Ecevit, was the leader of the raid. A few days before the raid, he spoke against rebel groups and stated “look at a person's hand, after the hand comes the fingers. If the PKK is the thumb, the index finger is Hezbollah! The main purpose of these is to establish a state through Kurdish nationalism.” A villa on Mühendis Street in Kavacık in Beykoz was found before the operation, and it was confirmed to be an operations center operated by Hezbollah, it was also confirmed that in the house were Hüseyin Velioğlu, the general leader of Hezbollah, as well as Edip Gümüş, the leader of Hezbollah's military wing, and Cemal Tutar, a high-ranking member of the military wing. It was the main target of the raid.[4][5] According to Palabıyık, Gümüş alone was responsible for the deaths of over 250 Turkish civilians, businessmen, law enforcement, and activists.[6]
According to Turkey, Hüseyin Velioğlu was in Iran for a period of time and had returned to Turkey 2 months before the raids. Also according to Turkey, Iran supported and funded the Kurdish Hezbollah, which Iran denies.[7][8] A few years before the raids, Iran was accused of holding peace talks between Kurdish Hezbollah and the PKK,[9] who have a long rivalry, with Hezbollah referring to PKK as "Partiya Kafirên Kurdistanê" (Kurdistan Kaffir Party) instead of "Partiya Karkerên Kurdistanê" (Kurdistan Workers' Party).[10] A major reason of the conflict between Hezbollah and the PKK was the argument of who is the representative of Kurdish nationalism in Turkey, and this conflict led to clashes for some time, with PKK losing around 500 fighters and Hezbollah losing around 200.[11]
Raids
Niyazi Palabayık announced that the Turkish police “pressed the button” on January 17, 2000 and raided the Beykoz villa. They had a meeting at the police station before the raid. After coming to a conclusion that it was a cell house belonging to Hezbollah, they started the operation. The police were instantly met with heavy bullets as they came near the house. Velioğlu engaged in a shootout with the police as they entered the house, and was shot to death, while Gümüş and Tutar were caught alive. Before the police broke down the door and entered the house, Velioğlu frantically shot at all the computers in an attempt to destroy evidence, although police later took out the memory cards, which were undamaged, and extracted 180 thousand pages of documents, which included Hezbollah's future plans against Turkey, as well as previous crimes which included murders, kidnappings, and tortures. It also included information on Hezbollah's structure.[12][11]
After questioning Gümüş and Tutar, the Turkish police raided a Hezbollah cell house in Üsküdar, finding bomb-making materials, and 10 dead bodies buried by making a pig bond and covered in concrete. One of the bodies had a nail in his skull, some bodies had their arms and legs broken or removed, and all showed signs of torture.[13][14]
At a raid on a Hezbollah cell house in Ümraniye, the body of İzzettin Yıldırım was found. On a separate raid on April 27, 2009, Turkish police found a video of the murder of İzzettin Yıldırım, which showed signs of his torture for days before his murder. Yıldırım was murdered by the pig bond method as well.[15][16]
After the raids, more than 200 graves were found in Hezbollah cell houses.[17]
Aftermath
Kurdish Hezbollah began shifting more towards Kurdish nationalism and separatism during Velioğlu's final years, and after Velioğlu's death, under İsa Altsoy, they disarmed and began focusing on charity work for the Kurdish poor, as part of various rebranded organizations.[18][3] Around the time of the 2000 Istanbul raids, it was estimated that Kurdish Hezbollah had around 20,000 members,[19][20] and over 15,000 of them were arrested by Turkish authorities all over Turkey after the raids.[18] Many trials took place against Gümüş, Tutar, and other alleged members of Hezbollah. They all claimed to have been tortured by Turkish authorities, in which the claims of torture are mentioned in Urgent Actions (UA) of Amnesty International.[21][5]
The trials ended on December 2009. The Hezbollah members received various different prison sentences.[22] After an amendment to the Turkish criminal code that set a limit of 10 years on the time detainees can be held without being sentenced in a final verdict,[23] 18 members of Kurdish Hezbollah, including Edip Gümüş and Cemal Tutar, were released on 4 January 2011.[24] Turkish authorities issued arrest warrants on all the released militants, although many of them had fled and were successfully evaded Turkish authorities.[24] Niyazi Palabıyık, who led the operation, criticised their release and referred to Hezbollah as "a very barbaric organization", and demanded for all of the 18 released militants to be instantly re-arrested, he also said that the 60th cabinet of Turkey as well as Recep Tayyip Erdoğan should "fear God", and that they handled the situation irresponsibly.[6]
On April 2, 2019, the house was put up for sale for 2,142,000 Turkish lira after being abandoned for 19 years.[25]
References
- ^ Aydıntaşbaş, Aslı (June 2000). "Murder on the Bosphorus". Middle East Quarterly. VII (2): 15–22. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ "Hizballah in Turkey Revives: Al-Qaeda's Bridge between Europe and Iraq? | The Washington Institute". www.washingtoninstitute.org. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ a b "Release of Radical Group's Leaders Causes Shock in Turkey". Voice of America. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "Beykoz'daki Hizbullah operasyonunu yöneten emniyet müdürü ilk kez konuştu: 250 insanın katili Edip Gümüş'ü tahliye ettiler!". T24.
- ^ a b An online edition of the Annual Report 2000 of the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey Archived 2012-02-26 at the Wayback Machine is available on the website of the Democratic Turkey Forum
- ^ a b "Hizbullah'ın karargah evini basan Emniyetçi ilk kez konuştu". March 30, 2023.
- ^ The Turkish Counter-Terrorism Experience, Suleyman Ozeren, Organizational and Psychological Aspects of Terrorism, Ed. Centre of Excellence Defence against Terrorism, (IOS Press, 2008), 159
- ^ The Kurdish Question and Turkish Foreign Policy, Kemal Kirisci, The future of Turkish foreign policy, Ed. Lenore G. Martin, Dimitris Keridis, (MIT Press, 2004), 295.
- ^ Turkey and the War on Terror, Andrew Mango, (Routledge, 2005), 65.
- ^ Gürbüz, Mustafa (2013). Bilgin, Fevzi; Sarihan, Ali (eds.). Understanding Turkey's Kurdish Question. Lexington Books. p. 168. ISBN 978-0-7391-8402-8
- ^ a b The Kurdish Ḥizbullāh in Turkey. Oxford Islamic Studies Online. By: Mehrzad Boroujerdi, Nader Entessar, Martin Kramer, Joseph A. Kéchichian, Emrullah Uslu. Source: The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Islamic World
- ^ The real challenge to secular Turkey, The Economist, 31 Aug 2006
- ^ "Istanbul shootout leads police to house of horrors | World news | The Guardian". amp.theguardian.com. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "DOMUZ BAĞI VAHŞETİ 10 YILDA UNUTULDU". Milliyet (in Turkish). 2011-01-05. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ "Hizbullah'ın öldürdüğü İzzettin Yıldırım kimdir? İzzettin Yıldırım kaç yaşında? İzzettin Yıldırım nerelidir?İzzettin Yıldırım'ı kim öldürdü? -". haymanagazetesi.org.
- ^ "İzzettin Yıldırım cinayetinde sır çözüldü". Risale Haber. February 18, 2010.
- ^ "17 Ocak 2000 - Hizbullah'a yapılan operasyonda örgüt elebaşı Hüseyin Velioğlu öldürüldü". Yurtsever (in Turkish). 2016-01-17. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
- ^ a b Elitsoy, Aslı (June 2017). The Kurdish Hizbullah and Its Shifting Attitude towards Kurdishness and the Kurdish Issue in Turkey.
- ^ Corry Görgü: "Die Anschläge auf die Synagogen in Istanbul und die Rolle von Staat und Hizbullah"
- ^ In the Spotlight: Turkish Hezbollah, the article was written in December 2003. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ See: EXTRA 64/01 of 14 September 2001 (Hacı Bayancık), UA 218/01 of 4 September 2001 (Hacı Elhunisuni), UA 209/01 of 22 August 2001 (Yasın Karadağ), UA 194/10 of 31 July 2001 (Edip Balık), UA 317/00 of 17 October 2000 (Fesih und Hatice Güler)
- ^ Radikal, 31 December 2009, Hizbullah'a 10 yıl sonra 16 müebbet / Türkiye / Radikal İnternet. Radikal.com.tr (2009-12-31). Retrieved on 2011-02-09.
- ^ Sebnem Arsu (4 January 2011). "After a Court Ruling, Turkey Frees 23 Suspected Militants". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
- ^ a b Gürbüz, Mustafa (2013). Bilgin, Fevzi; Sarihan, Ali (eds.). Understanding Turkey's Kurdish Question. Lexington Books. p. 169. ISBN 978-0-7391-8402-8.
- ^ "Hizbullah'ın Beykoz'daki villası satışa çıkıyor". dostbeykoz.com.