01.05.2008 - Source: EurasiaNet

Southeastern Turkey: Article on the NGO activities of the Kurdish Hizbullah ("An Islamic radical group resurfaces, striving to embrace peaceful change") [ID 23213]

Document(s): Open document

10.2005 - Source: UK Home Office

Hizbullah ("Country Report - October 2005") [#40563],  [ID 13635]

". Hizbullah/Hezbollah is a very shadowy Islamist group which originated in the 1980s in southeast Turkey. It advocates the establishment of an Islamic state by violent means. When a major Hizbullah leader was killed by PKK fighters in 1991, a difference of opinion emerged within the organisation as to whether the time was yet right to wreak revenge on the PKK, and also to take up arms in pursuit of its own objective. One faction, centring on the Menzil publishing house (and known as the Menzil group), took the view that the organisation was not yet sufficiently well-developed to pitch into armed struggle. The other, centred on the Ilim publishing house and known as the Ilim group, thought the time was ripe for armed revenge on the PKK. Its idea was as far as possible to let the Turkish State do the dirty work for it in combating the PKK. The Ilim group bore particular responsibility for the atrocities committed by Hizbullah. The group had an ideological aversion to Iran, which adhered to Shia Islam; the Ilim group was striving for a Sunni Islam state. When the Ilim group managed to kill some of the Menzil group’s main leaders in 1996, the Menzil group disintegrated and faded away. Some former Menzil members then joined the Ilim group, and, from 1996, Hizbullah become synonymous with the violent Ilim faction. Rumours were rife that Hizbullah was at least tolerated by the security forces because it was fighting against a common enemy, and it has been held responsible for a large number of disappearances and killings. Its victims included a former DEP member of parliament, Mehmet Sincar, and an Islamic feminist writer, Konca Kuris. President Demirel denied allegations that there were links between Hizbullah and Turkish officialdom, while the general staff of the armed forces issued an angry statement condemning such allegations as slander.

From 1997 onwards the Turkish authorities began to take tougher action against Hizbullah, with a reported 130 supporters arrested in 1998, 250 in 1999 and 3300 in 2000. In a raid on a home in the Üsküdar area of Istanbul on 17 January 2000 Hüseyin Velioğlu, Hizbullah’s founder and leader, was killed, and two other people arrested. On the basis of evidence found in the home, many other premises were searched, revealing the bodies of thirteen missing businessmen. With many more corpses being uncovered in the following months, the public prosecutor was able to press charges against 21 people on 156 counts of murder in the major Hizbullah trial which opened on 10 July 2000. During an interrogation, a Hizbullah suspect reportedly confessed to killing moderate Islamic scholar Konca Kuris in the early 1990s. In November 2002 an appeals court acquitted five defendants and sentenced the others to prison terms ranging from life to 45 months. The security forces’ many operations against Hizbullah have inflicted heavy setbacks on it, and the number of bombings carried out by the group has fallen from 302 in the first eight months of 1999 to 94 in the corresponding period of 2000. However, the provincial governor of Diyarbakır stated in October 2000 that, in spite of those serious setbacks, Hizbullah could certainly not yet be considered to have been eliminated. There are said to be many teachers and religious officials involved in the organisation. As of February 2000, Hizbullah was said to have had in Turkey some 20,000 members, who were organised in tight cells and knew a few of their fellow members because they were sworn to strict secrecy. They were said to operate in teams of two or three people, who “would stalk their victim before one member of the group carried out the execution by shooting the target in the neck with a single bullet, while the other kept a watch. A third militant may have assumed the duty of protecting the executioner.” Up to the time of the security forces’ major action in January 2000, there were no known instances of Hizbullah’s having targeted the authorities in its operations. Since then, however, armed incidents have taken place. On 11 October 2000 in Diyarbakır a policeman was killed in a gunfight with Hizbullah, which has also been linked with the shooting dead of the province’s chief of police, Gaffar Okkan, and five of his officers in January 2001. In April 2001 a Hizbullah member was arrested on suspicion of involvement in that attack. The USSD 2004 reported that the Government continued to detain persons, particularly in the southeastern province of Batman, on suspicion of links to Hizballahan that 1,500 political prisoners were alleged members of Hizballah or other radical Islamist political organizations. On 5 February 2005 Turkish Daily News reported that, acting upon intelligence that the group was trying to regroup the security forces had arrested 22 suspected Hizbullah militants in 18 provinces."

Document(s): Open document

28.02.2005 - Source: US Department of State

1.500 members of Hizballah held as political prisoners ("Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004") [#29519],  [ID 13636]

"The HRA estimated that there were approximately 6,000 to 7,000 political prisoners, including leftists, rightists and Islamists. Of these, approximately 1,500 were alleged members of Hizballah or other radical Islamist political organizations. The Government claimed that alleged political prisoners were in fact charged with being members of, or assisting, terrorist organizations. According to the Government, there were 4,508 convicts and detainees held on terrorism charges at year's end."

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: Background information on Hezbollah ("Country Report - October 2003") [#17342],  [ID 13637]

"Hizbullah/Ilim Gruhu and Hizbullah/Menzil Grubu. Both are illegal. Hizbullah/Hezbollah is a very shadowy Islamist group which originated in the 1980s in southeast Turkey. It advocates the establishment of an Islamic state by violent means. When a major Hizbullah leader was killed by PKK fighters in 1991, a difference of opinion emerged within the organisation as to whether the time was yet right to wreak revenge on the PKK, and also to take up arms in pursuit of its own objective. One faction, centring on the Menzil publishing house (and known as the Menzil group), took the view that the organisation was not yet sufficiently well-developed to pitch into armed struggle. The other, centred on the Ilim publishing house and known as the Ilim group, thought the time was ripe for armed revenge on the PKK. Its idea was as far as possible to let the Turkish State do the dirty work for it in combating the PKK. The Ilim group bore particular responsibility for the atrocities committed by Hizbullah. The group had an ideological aversion to Iran, which adhered to Shia Islam; the Ilim group was striving for a Sunni Islam state. When the Ilim group managed to kill some of the Menzil group's main leaders in 1996, the Menzil group disintegrated and faded away. Some former Menzil members then joined the Ilim group, and, from 1996, Hizbullah become synonymous with the violent Ilim faction. Rumours were rife that Hizbullah was at least tolerated by the security forces because it was fighting against a common enemy, and it has been held responsible for a large number of disappearances and killings. Its victims included a former DEP member of parliament, Mehmet Sincar, and an Islamic feminist writer, Konca Kuris. President Demirel denied allegations that there were links between Hizbullah and Turkish officialdom, while the general staff of the armed forces issued an angry statement condemning such allegations as slander. [...]

As of February 2000, Hizbullah was said to have had in Turkey some 20,000 members, who were organised in tight cells and knew a few of their fellow members because they were sworn to strict secrecy. They were said to operate in teams of two or three people, who ”would stalk their victim before one member of the group carried out the execution by shooting the target in the neck with a single bullet, while the other kept a watch. A third militant may have assumed the duty of protecting the executioner.”

Up to the time of the security forces' major action in January 2000, there were no known instances of Hizbullah's having targeted the authorities in its operations. Since then, however, armed incidents have taken place. On 11 October 2000 in Diyarbakýr a policeman was killed in a gunfight with Hizbullah, which has also been linked with the shooting dead of the province's chief of police, Gaffar Okkan, and five of his officers in January 2001. In April 2001 a Hizbullah member was arrested on suspicion of involvement in that attack. [2a][5c][5d][5g][7g][32d][82b][92]"

Document(s): Open document

10.2003 - Source: UK Home Office

UK Home Office: State action against Hezbollah ("Country Report - October 2003") [#17342],  [ID 13638]

"From 1997 onwards the Turkish authorities began to take tougher action against Hizbullah, with a reported 130 supporters arrested in 1998, 250 in 1999 and 3300 in 2000. In a raid on a home in the Üsküdar area of Istanbul on 17 January 2000 Hüseyin Velioglu, Hizbullah's founder and leader, was killed, and two other people arrested. On the basis of evidence found in the home, many other premises were searched, revealing the bodies of thirteen missing businessmen. With many more corpses being uncovered in the following months, the public prosecutor was able to press charges against 21 people on 156 counts of murder in the major Hizbullah trial which opened on 10 July 2000. During an interrogation, a Hizbullah suspect reportedly confessed to killing moderate Islamic scholar Konca Kuris in the early 1990s. In November 2002 an appeals court acquitted five defendants and sentenced the others to prison terms ranging from life to 45 months.

The security forces' many operations against Hizbullah have inflicted heavy setbacks on it, and the number of bombings carried out by the group has fallen from 302 in the first eight months of 1999 to 94 in the corresponding period of 2000. However, the provincial governor of Diyarbakýr stated in October 2000 that, in spite of those serious setbacks, Hizbullah could certainly not yet be considered to have been eliminated. There are said to be many teachers and religious officials involved in the organisation. [...]

Up to the time of the security forces' major action in January 2000, there were no known instances of Hizbullah's having targeted the authorities in its operations. Since then, however, armed incidents have taken place. On 11 October 2000 in Diyarbakýr a policeman was killed in a gunfight with Hizbullah, which has also been linked with the shooting dead of the province's chief of police, Gaffar Okkan, and five of his officers in January 2001. In April 2001 a Hizbullah member was arrested on suspicion of involvement in that attack.

Many alleged Hizbullah members claim that they were tortured in custody, a claim that has been supported in some cases by medical evidence.
[2a][5c][5d][5g][7g][32d][82b][92] [...]
5.56 The so-called “win-back for society law” came into force on 6 August 2003 following approval from President Ahmet Necdet Sezer, and its publication in the Official Gazettee. The law will remain in effect for 6 months from the date of promulgation (ie until the 6 February 2004). The Government hopes that it will pave the way for the surrender and return home of half of the PKK/KADEK armed militants based in northern Iraq. In addition to those that are still in northern Iraq, the amnesty was designed to reduce the prison terms of those militants who have already been convicted for involvement in the groups terrorist attacks in the past, in return for providing information to the security authorities. [23n][36e]

5.57 The new law will grant a partial and conditional amnesty to the militants of the banned PKK/KADEK. Most of the members and sympathisers of the separatist movement will escape punishment, providing they have not taken part in violent acts. However, the partial amnesty does not apply to the leaders of the movement. [66h]

5.58 Although the law is aimed primarily at Kurdish separatist groups it also applies to left wing and militant Islamic terrorist organisations including members of Hezbollah. [23n] [38c] [...]

6.193 Whoever can be shown to be a member of the PKK, a radical left-wing group such as DHKP/C or TKP/ML or a militant Islamist group such as Hezbollah will be prosecuted under Article 168 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 5 of the Anti-Terror Law. Under Article 168 the penalty is imprisonment for a minimum of ten years and, in the event of aggravating circumstances, a maximum of fifteen years. The penalty is increased by half under Article 5 of the Anti-Terror Law. The above Articles impose heavier penalties on leaders of such organisations. They will also be prosecuted under Articles 125 or 146 for attempted armed subversion of the established constitutional order, which is punishable by life imprisonment (until the reform of August 2002 by the death penalty). [2a][66a]"

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31.03.2003 - Source: Reporters Sans Frontières

Turkey - 2003 Annual Report ("Turkey - 2003 Annual Report") [#11823],  [ID 13639]

"Nureddin Sirin, a columnist with the Islamist weekly Selam, was arrested on 6 February 1997 and sentenced in September that year to 17 and a half years in prison for "belonging to the Hezbollah." The Appeals Court also confirmed in June 1999 a 20-month prison sentence on him for "incitement to hatred and enmity." He had written an article in the paper on 15 June 1997 called "We must be on the side of the oppressed, even if they are atheist." He was being held in the type F prison in the northwestern town of Bolu."

Document(s): Open document

25.10.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Man detained in connection with the illegal armed Islamist group Hizbullah/ he is at risk of torture and ill treatment ("Turkey - UA 317/02") [#9232],  [ID 13640]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

26.09.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Man held in police detention in Diyarbakir, reportedly in connection with the armed Islamist group, Hizbullah ("Turkey - UA 290/02") [#8704],  [ID 13641]

Document(s): Open document
Open document

29.07.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Man illegally detained and tortured by police in Diyarbakir on suspicion of aiding and abetting the illegal armed group Hizbullah ("Turkey - UA 238/02") [#8050],  [ID 13642]

Document(s): Open document

29.07.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Man illegally detained and tortured by police in Diyarbakir on suspicion of aiding and abetting the illegal armed group Hizbullah ("Turkey - UA 238/02") [#8050],  [ID 13648]

Document(s): Open document

30.04.2002 - Source: Amnesty International

Man, detained in connection with the activities of the armed Islamist group Hizbullah, reportedly held in incommunicado detention in southeast Turkey and at risk of torture and ill-treatment ("Turkey - UA 132/02") [#6675],  [ID 13643]

Document(s): Open document

15.04.2002 - Source: Council of the European Union

Report on the general situation in the country/ human rights issues highlighted ("Note from the Netherlands delegation to CIREA: Official general report on Turkey, January 2002" Rf. 7838/02") [#7991],  [ID 13644]

"2.4.2. Hezbollah and other pro-Islamic groups

With a raid on a home in the Üsküdar area of Istanbul on 17 January 2000, the Turkish security forces launched a large-scale campaign against Hezbollah 1, a pro-Islamic group advocating establishment of an Islamic state by violent means. In the Üsküdar raid, the movement's founder and leader, Hüseyin Velioğlu, was killed and two others arrested. On the basis of evidence found in the home, a large number of searches of premises were conducted, revealing the bodies of thirteen missing business people. With many more corpses being uncovered in ensuing months, the public prosecutor was able to press charges on a total of 156 counts of murder in the major Hezbollah trial which opened on 10 July 2000 2.

Established in Batman in 1983, Hezbollah used to operate mostly in south-eastern Turkey and consists mainly of Kurds from the Sunni branch of Islam.

Hezbollah came to prominence and achieved notoriety as the adversary of the PKK, with which it repeatedly clashed violently, causing an estimated 400 or more deaths. When a major Hezbollah leader was killed by PKK fighters in 1991, a difference of opinion emerged within the organisation as to whether the time was yet ripe to wreak armed revenge on the PKK and also take up arms in pursuit of its own objective 3.

One faction, centring on the Menzil publishing house, took the view that the organisation was not yet sufficiently well developed to pitch into armed struggle. That wing wanted to defer armed struggle for a while, in order to make further preparations. Both the PKK and the Turkish state were regarded an enemies by the Menzil group, which advocated an Islamic state along Iranian lines.

The other faction of Hezbollah did think the time ripe, following the 1991 assassination, for armed revenge on the PKK. That group revolved around the Ilim publishing house and thus came to be known as the Ilim group. Its idea all along was as far as possible to let the Turkish state do the dirty work for it in combating the PKK. The Ilim group bore particular responsibility for the atrocities committed by Hezbollah. The group had an ideological aversion to Iran, which adhered to Shia Islam, whereas the Ilim group was striving for a Sunni Islamic state.

The two factions soon locked horns after 1991. When the Ilim group managed to kill some of the Menzil group's main leaders in 1996, the Menzil group disintegrated and faded away. Some former Menzil members then joined the Ilim group and so, as from 1996, Hezbollah became synonymous with the violent Ilim faction.

According to sources including Human Rights Watch, while the army's campaign against the PKK was at its height, Hezbollah received at least passive support from the authorities 1, being useful in combating the PKK - a claim denied by Turkish official sources. When the PKK no longer posed any threat, according to Human Rights Watch and various international observers, the time became ripe for a serious effort to tackle Hezbollah. A reported 130, 250 and 3 300 Hezbollah supporters were arrested in 1998, 1999 and 2000 respectively 2. The number of security force operations against Hezbollah in 2000 amounted to 867, as against some 270 in 1999 3.

Hezbollah has been held responsible for a large number of disappearances and killings 1, targeting every conceivable opponent of its own or supposed opponent of Islam. Its victims included a former DEP member of parliament, Mehmet Sincar, and an Islamic feminist writer, Konca Kuris. After not being heard of for some years, Hezbollah found itself in the news in 1997 on account of a number of extortion cases in Istanbul. This showed it no longer to have its sights set solely on south-eastern Turkey.

The security forces' many operations against Hezbollah have inflicted heavy setbacks on it. According to a prominent former Hezbollah member, among others, the organisation had always relied very heavily on its leader, Hüseyin Velioğlu, and was rocked by his death 2. Many of Hezbollah's members have been arrested and are now in custody. As the police also seized a large part of Hezbollah's well-organised records in operations against the group in early 2000, the security forces hold a great deal of intelligence on members still at large. Much of the group's infrastructure has been destroyed, too, with arms caches dismantled, safe houses closed down and financial assets seized.

There were also a large number of security force operations carried out against Hezbollah in 2001: 588 in all, according to the Ministry of the Interior. A total of 1 382 arrests were made, with 832 of those arrested subsequently released again and 546 remanded in custody. Over the last ten years in the state-of emergency region, a total of 2 626 operations have been conducted against Hezbollah, with 8 519 arrests made in all and 4 925 detainees released again in due course 3.

Up to the time of the security forces' major offensive, there are no known instances of Hezbollah targeting the authorities in its operations. From that time on, however, the situation took on a different complexion, with the Turkish state now an explicit target for Hezbollah. A number of armed attacks on police officers were reported in 2000 and Hezbollah has also been linked with the attack on Diyarbakır province's chief of police, Gaffar Okkan, riddled with bullets on 25 January 2001 1. On 14 October 2001 a police car in Istanbul came under fire, with one of the officers later dying of his wounds and suspicion again falling principally on Hezbollah. [...]

3.4.2 Members of PKK and left-wing or Islamist military groups

There has been no change in the Turkish authorities' attitude towards the PKK since it withdrew its fighters outside Turkey's borders, altered its objectives and renounced violence 4. Like members of militant left-wing or Islamist organisations, PKK members still face criminal prosecution by the authorities.

Whoever can be shown to be a member of the PKK, a radical left-wing group such as DHKP/C or TKP/ML or a militant Islamist group such as Hezbollah will be prosecuted under Article 168 of the Criminal Code in conjunction with Article 5 of the Anti-Terror Law. Under Article 168 the penalty is imprisonment for a minimum of ten years and, in the event of aggravating circumstances, a maximum of fifteen years. The penalty is increased by half under Article 5 of the Anti-terror Law. The above Articles impose heavier penalties on leaders of such organisations. They will also be prosecuted under Articles 125 or 146 for attempted armed subversion of the established constitutional order, which is punishable by the death penalty.

Individuals who have criminal proceedings pending against them and are wanted by the authorities are recorded in the central Judicial Records System, so that the authorities are informed nationwide when a person is wanted.

3.4.3 Persons engaging in marginal activities on behalf of the PKK and left-wing or Islamist militant groups

Persons who are being prosecuted under criminal law on account of marginal activities on behalf of the PKK, a left-wing radical group such as DHKP/C or TKP/ML or a militant Islamist group such as Hezbollah may be sentenced under Article 169 of the Turkish Criminal Code (aiding and sheltering members of an illegal organisation) to a maximum of three years and nine months imprisonment.

Case law in such proceedings gives a varying picture. Some State Security Courts are relatively quick to assume involvement with an organisation while there are also cases in which the courts have acquitted suspects when there was sufficient proof for a conviction. One such case involved a Turkish national who was found in possession of PKK pamphlets but was nevertheless acquitted. Article 169 of the Criminal Code is covered by the amnesty measures of 21 December 2000, which led to the release of many convicted of such offences and the suspension of many pending proceedings 1."

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14.09.2001 - Source: Amnesty International

Man, arrested on suspicion of being a member of the armed opposition group Hizbullah, held in incommunicado detention and is at risk of torture or ill-treatment ("Turkey - EXTRA 64/01") [#3956],  [ID 13646]

Document(s): 00676tur.htm
Open document

04.09.2001 - Source: Amnesty International

Men, arrested on suspicion of membership of the armed opposition group Hizbullah, reportedly tortured while in custody ("Turkey - UA 218/01") [#3881],  [ID 13647]

Document(s): 00640tur.htm
Open document

31.07.2001 - Source: Amnesty International

Man reportedly detained in connection with alleged membership of the armed opposition group Hizbullah/ he has also been tortured and ill treated ("Turkey - UA 194/01") [#3206],  [ID 13649]

Document(s): 01673tur.html
Open document

10.07.2001 - Source: Tageszeitung

Polizei vs. Hisbollah - Schüsse in Diyarbakir ("Polizei vs. Hisbollah - Schüsse in Diyarbakir") [#2467],  [ID 13650]

Document(s): j046.htm
Open document

05.07.2001 - Source: Amnesty International

A man and a woman arrested on suspicion of being members of the Islamist armed organization Hizbullah/ the man was allegedly beaten and given electric shocks/ many people suspected of being Hizbullah members were illegally detained and tortured ("Turkey - UA 317/00") [#2388],  [ID 13651]

Document(s): Open document

04.06.2001 - Source: BBC News

10 suspected members of the extreme Turkish Muslim group, Turkish Hizbullah, arrested ("Arrests made in police chief murder case") [#1989],  [ID 13652]

"A senior Turkish official says the police have arrested 10 people suspected of involvement in the murder of the police chief in the predominantly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir.

The Diyarbakir governor, Cemil Serhadli, said the 10 were detained on Friday night, and were suspected members of the extreme Turkish Muslim group, Turkish Hizbullah.

He said weapons seized in the raid were used in the killing in January of the police chief, Gaffar Okkan and five other officers.

Mr Okkan had led a campaign against Turkish Hizbullah which resulted in hundreds of arrests.

Turkish Hizbullah is accused of plotting to overthrow Turkey's secular government and replace it with an Islamic one."

Document(s): 00078.htm
Open document