Interior ministers, governors knew about JİTEM, says former major

Speaking to Today's Zaman, Tuzlu said: “All the work went on within the knowledge of public safety commanders and the regional commander. They had signs reading ‘JİTEM' outside their offices. Their headquarters was in Ankara. Their powers were unlimited.”

Tuzlu worked in the past with JİTEM founder Cem Ersever, Abdülkerim Kırca and Mahmut Yıldırım, also known as Yeşil, as well as with Veli Küçük, a retired general who is currently standing trial as a prime suspect in the trial of Ergenekon, a clandestine gang charged with plotting to overthrow the government. JİTEM is believed to be the strongest and most important armed mechanism of the Ergenekon organization.

Tuzlu attained the rank of major in the military, but was sacked for supporting religious charity movements in a Supreme Military Council (YAŞ) decision in the year 2000, according to Zaman. Tuzlu said the military's official rejection of the existence of JİTEM was a way to distract the public's attention. “The organization was very professional. It worked without leaving any traces behind. It was made up of well-trained individuals.

Everyone in his right mind in eastern and southeastern Anatolia knew of JİTEM because its reach had seeped into the public, the police and the village guards. It carried out numerous operations in the region. JİTEM staff drove in white Renaults so they would be recognized by other members of the military. All of them spoke very good Kurdish, and they had boundless authority,” he said.

JİTEM code names

Tuzlu said in 1991 those who worked under the regional directorates of JİTEM had code names used in radio communications. According to Tuzlu's claims, these code names were created and distributed in May and June 1991. He said in the heat of clashes with terrorists in the Southeast, the radio caller would say, “I want the Scout from the Bayonet.” The Bayonet was the name for the Diyarbakır JİTEM base, while the Scout was Yıldırım, also known as Yeşil, an alleged hit man who served JİTEM for years in several of the group's operations in and outside the region and then mysteriously disappeared. Some witnesses have claimed that JİTEM destroyed Yeşil, as it does most of its workers or informants. While his body has not been found, it is widely believed that Yeşil is dead.

He said Yıldırım, then known as Müdür (the director), always wore a green scarf around his neck, which earned him the nickname over time.

He also said that JİTEM founder Ersever, Kırca and Levent Temizöz used the code name “Fırat” (Euphrates) over the airwaves. Maj. Ersever was killed in the late '90s in his home when he started writing books and speaking out on JİTEM.

Maj. Kırca, believed to be a higher-up in JİTEM, had replaced Maj. Ersever. He committed suicide earlier this year. Temizöz, a retired general, is currently a suspect in the Ergenekon trial.

JİTEM had seven regional directorates

According to Tuzlu, JİTEM was organized into seven regional directorates. The center of the eastern and southeastern command centers was the city of Diyarbakır. JİTEM's office in Diyarbakır was in Sur. The office of the JİTEM directorate for the 8th Army Corps Command in Elazığ was located in the bottom floor of the military court there. JİTEM offices in Batman and Mardin were located inside the provincial gendarmerie commands of those cities, while in Şırnak, the office was located on territory owned by the state-owned Turkish Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ).

Indeed, last year, Abdülkadir Aygan, a former terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) member who surrendered to the state and was recruited by JİTEM as were most people who confessed to PKK membership, claimed that if the acid wells located on BOTAŞ's property in Şırnak's Silopi district were to be dug up, many bones and human remains from JİTEM's executions would be found. In excavations in March, human remains were unearthed in some of the wells there.

Tuzlu also said the JİTEM units' every move transpired under orders of generals and with the knowledge of local governors. All past interior ministers and police chiefs also knew about the organization. According to Tuzlu's claims, JİTEM, whose every move has been officially recorded, still continues to function as JİT, possibly an acronym for “Gendarmerie Intelligence Organization.”

Tuzlu also claimed that Yeşil is still alive. He said retired Col. Levent Göktaş -- who was rounded up in early January in the Ergenekon investigation after the prosecution found evidence linking him to the gang -- had told him that Yeşil was leading a normal life in Ankara's Yenimahalle district. He said he had talked to Göktaş shortly before he was detained in the investigation.