Turkish mafia () is the general term for criminal organizations based in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

and/or composed of current or former Turkish citizens. Crime groups with origins in Turkey are active throughout

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

(where a strong Turkish immigrant community exists) and less so in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Turkish criminal groups participate in a wide range of criminal activities, internationally the most important being

drug trafficking A drug is any chemical substance other than a nutrient or an essential dietary ingredient, which, when administered to a living organism, produces a biological effect. Consumption of drugs can be via inhalation, injection, smoking, ingestion, ...

, especially

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...

. In the trafficking of heroin they cooperate with Bulgarian mafia groups who transport the heroin further to countries such as

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. Recently however, Turkish mafia groups have also stepped up in the

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

trafficking world by directly participating in the massive cocaine

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

pipeline that runs transnationally from South America to Europe. They allegedly have a lucrative partnership with the

Venezuelan Venezuelans (Spanish language, Spanish: ''venezolanos'') are the Citizenship, citizens identified with the country of Venezuela. This connection may be through citizenship, descent or cultural. For most Venezuelans, many or all of these connect ...

drug-trafficking organization known as the Cartel of the Suns who ships them cocaine along with criminal elements from

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. Turkish organized crime has pushed into less traditional cocaine markets as well such as into Eastern Europe, the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

, and the wealthy petro-states of the Persian Gulf.

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra (, ; "our thing"), also referred to as simply Mafia, is a criminal society and criminal organization originating on the island of Sicily and dates back to the mid-19th century. Emerging as a form of local protect ...

and the Turkish mafia are also known to be very close. Criminal activities such as the trafficking of other types of drugs, illegal gambling,

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

are committed in Turkey itself as well as European countries with a sizeable Turkish community such as

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

, and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Most Turkish crime syndicates have their origin in two regions: the

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

province on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the East and Southeast Anatolia in the south of the country. The biggest origin is on the coast of the Black Sea, located near Trabzon.

History

The Turkish mafia was involved in the weapons trade in the 1970s, and the heroin trade in the 1980s to present, and then moved along into human smuggling. Bekir Çelenk was one of the members of the Turkish mafia and was involved in the plot to assassinate pope

John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

Ties to deep state

Some members of the Turkish mafia have ties to the

deep state in Turkey In Turkey, a political conspiracy theory posits the existence of a deep state (), a group of influential anti-democratic coalitions inside the Turkish political structure, composed of high-level elements within the intelligence services (domest ...

, including the

National Intelligence Organization loction 39°54'25.0"N 32°39'59.3"E The National Intelligence Organization (), also known by its Turkish language, Turkish initials MIT or MİT, or colloquially as the Organization (), is an intelligence agency of the Turkish government tasked ...

(MIT), as well as the Grey Wolves. These ties became public during the

Susurluk scandal The Susurluk scandal () or Susurluk accident (), was a 1996 political scandal in Turkey that exposed a close relationship between the Turkish government, the ultra-nationalistic paramilitary Grey Wolves (organization), Grey Wolves organization an ...

. The Grey Wolves represent an ideological organization close to certain mafia groups. This organization was an instrument to fight the Kurds of PKK. The ideology of the Gray Wolves unites many far-right radical nationalists close to the MHP and the

AK Party The Justice and Development Party ( , AK PARTİ), abbreviated officially as AK Party in English, is a political party in Turkey self-describing as conservative-democratic. It has been the ruling party of Turkey since 2002. Third-party sources ...

Crime groups

Criminal groups composed of 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. Powerful and important Turkish criminal organizations mostly have their origin in the

Trabzon Province Trabzon Province () is a Provinces of Turkey, province and Metropolitan municipalities in Turkey, metropolitan municipality of Turkey on the Black Sea coast. Its area is 4,628 km2, and its population is 818,023 (2022). Located in a strategic ...

and incorporate members of both the Turkish and the Laz populations.

Eastern Black Sea crime groups

Even though crime groups composed of Turks come from all over the country, a relatively high amount of them have origins in the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

region of Turkey, especially in

. These groups consisting of Turks and

Laz people The Laz people, or Lazi ( ''Lazi''; ka, ლაზი, ''lazi''; or ჭანი, ''ch'ani''; ), are a Kartvelian languages, Kartvelian ethnic group native to the South Caucasus, who mainly live in Black Sea coastal regions of Black Sea Region, ...

are especially strong in the country itself. Eastern Black Sea crime bosses such as

Alaattin Çakıcı Aladdin (, commonly ) (various spellings and transliterations) is a male given name which means "nobility of faith" or "nobility of creed/religion". It is one of a large class of names ending with ad-Din. The name may refer to: Given name *Ala al ...

are known from having links to or being members of the politically motivated group Grey Wolves.

Turkish Cypriot crime groups

Following the substantial immigration of

Turkish Cypriots Turkish Cypriots or Cypriot Turks ( or ; ) are so called ethnic Turks originating from Cyprus. Turkish Cypriots are mainly Sunni Muslims. Following the Ottoman conquest of the island in 1571, about 30,000 Turkish settlers were given land onc ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

criminal gangs composed of Turkish Cypriots were formed in working-class neighborhoods. Mainly involved in

armed robbery Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take anything of value by force, threat of force, or use of fear. According to common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person o ...

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

these crime clans have more in common with the traditional White British crime firms than with the Turkish mafia.

Notable Turkish mafiosi

Nurullah Tevfik Ağansoy Nurullah Tevfik Ağansoy (1960, Topcular, Istanbul – August 28, 1996, Bebek, Istanbul) was a Turkish mob boss and former Grey Wolves member who was involved in the Susurluk scandal. After the 1980 Turkish coup, he was arrested and sentenced ...

* Arif family * Hakan Ayik *

* Necati Arabaci * Abdullah Çatlı * Nedim Imac * Dündar Kılıç * Yasar Avni Musullulu * Kürşat Yılmaz * Sedat Peker

References

{{Organized crime groups in Europe Mafia Organized crime by ethnicity Transnational organized crime Organized crime in Turkey Organised crime groups in Norway Organised crime gangs of London Organised crime groups in Austria Organised crime groups in Germany Organized crime groups in Switzerland Organized crime groups in Turkey Organised crime groups in Italy Organised crime groups in Spain