Your trusted source

Turkish Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu, the country’s top security bureaucrat, is suspected of also being Turkey’s top drug kingpin, organizing the trafficking of narcotics in cooperation with several mafia groups, using state officials as his henchmen and couriers, Nordic Monitor reports. 

As the source said, the allegations were made by exiled Turkish journalist Said Sefa, who said his findings were based on statements he dug out of court papers. According to Sefa, the interior minister acts in concert with a criminal organization known as the Hakkari Group in order to run, control and dominate the domestic drug trafficking network, starting from the entry of the illegal substances into the country at the eastern border until their shipment to Western countries.

The Hakkari Group is made up of members from nearby Mardin province, but they mainly operate in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari province, with their base of operations near the borders with Iraq and Iran. After the elimination of its predecessor, the Yüksekova Group, the Hakkari group has established direct contact with Minister Soylu and sees him as their protector and benefactor.

According to the source, onlike many of his predecessors, Soylu regularly visits Hakkari and neighboring provinces in the border area with Gen. Arif Çetin, head of the gendarmerie, as a sign of his patronage and support for the illegal operations. The visits, presented as a review of security measures and meeting with troops, are in fact a smokescreen for him to handle the trafficking on the ground.