Country of origin information report Turkey March 2007

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8 Security Forces
8.01 “Turkey Interactive 2005”, prepared by the Turkish News Agency for the Office of the Prime Minister of Turkey noted that “The maintenance of law and order and security in the country is under the jurisdiction of the gendarmerie and the police forces which are attached to the Ministry of the Interior.” [36a] (p187 Internal Security
8.02 As recorded by the chairman Dr. Can Paker of the Executive Board, Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) at the launching event of the publication ‘Almanac Turkey - Security Sector and Democratic Oversight 2005’
“The Almanac analyses all units within the Security Sector, their organization, their known and unknown working principles and activities, the civilian authorities they work under, the legal framework and basic approaches within which they operate, and the changes and bottlenecks they went through within the framework of full membership to the European Union, in a contemporary , informative and analytical format. The four forces of the Armed Forces (Land, Air, Naval and Gendarmerie), Police, Coast Guard, Police and Gendarmerie Intelligence units, National Intelligence Organization, Special Anti-Terrorism Units, National Defense Council, the security-related activities of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and the Government, Military Judiciary system, Village Guards, Private Security, the roles of the Civil Society and the Media are studied by experts, in a dynamic and analytical framework in connection with politics, history, social development in Turkey as well as in an international context.” [98c]
Intelligence Agency (MIT)
8.03 As stated on the website of the National Intelligence Organisation (Milli Istihbarat TeŞkilati - MIT) (website accessed on 19 January 2007):
“The Turkish National Intelligence Organization was founded as a body subordinate to the ‘Prime Ministry’…in accordance with the Constitution, the Cabinet and the Prime Minister are jointly responsible for carrying out the general policy of the Government.” [88] (Section on Duties, Powers and Responsibilities of the MIT)
8.04 The Global Security Organisation in their website accessed 19 January 2007 also noted that:
“Intelligence gathering is the primary responsibility of the National Intelligence Organization (Milli Istihbarat Teskilati--MIT), which combines the functions of internal and external intelligence agencies… Military and civil intelligence requirements are formulated by the National Intelligence Coordination Committee. This committee includes members of the staff of the National Security Council, to which it is directly responsible. Nevertheless, a lack of coordination among the intelligence services is said to be a weakness that hampers MIT effectiveness. MIT has no police powers; it is authorized only to gather intelligence and conduct counterintelligence abroad and to uncover communist, extreme right-wing, and separatist--that is, Kurdish and Armenian--groups internally. The MIT chief reports to the prime minister but was in the past considered close to the military. MIT has been charged with failing to notify the government when it became aware of past plots, if not actual complicity in military coup attempts. The organization functions under strict discipline and secrecy. Housing and headquarters offices for its personnel are colocated in a compound in Ankara.” [28]
8.05 As recorded in the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) report ‘Almanac Turkey - Security Sector and Democratic Oversight 2005’:
“MIT, the existing intelligence organisation of the Republic of Turkey, was established when the National Intelligence Organisation Law No. 644 took effect on 22 July 1965. With this law, the organisation known as MEH or MAH became MIT…In recent years; the suggestion that MIT focus on foreign intelligence and the police force investigate domestic intelligence affairs frequently arises. MIT is not in favour of these suggestions. As stated in its official website in 2005, it supports the idea that domestic and foreign intelligence must be MIT-run in an integrated fashion.” [98b] (p160-163)

Police
8.06 “Turkey Interactive 2005”, prepared by the Turkish News Agency for the Office of the Prime Minister of Turkey noted that:
“The police force carries out its activities under the Directorate General of Security and includes central and provincial organisations. The area of responsibility of the Turkish police is restricted by the municipal borders. Outside these areas, police functions are carried out by the gendarmerie. The Turkish police respect human rights in the fulfilment of all its duties, in conformity with the principles of a contemporary state of law. Within this framework, utmost importance has been placed on training and education. The qualifications of the police force have improved a great deal by raising the level of education and sending a large number of personnel abroad for training”. [36a] (p187 Internal Security)
8.07 The same publication further noted that “The Turkish police force performs its functions by approximately 188,000 personnel, almost 170,000 of them working in security services. Around 10,000 women serve in the police force”. [36a] (p188 Internal Security
8.08 The Library of Congress country profile of Turkey 2006 stated that “The national police, under the Ministry of Interior, are responsible for security in urban areas. Under the central directorate of this force are sub-directorates for each province. The exact size of the police force is not known. The 150,000-member paramilitary National Guard, or Jandarma, also under the Ministry of Interior except for wartime situations, is responsible for security outside urban areas about 90 per cent of Turkey’s territory. Jandarma officers come from the military academy, and recruits are conscripted.” [110] (page 23)
8.09 The US State Department Report (USSD) 2005, published on 8 March 2006, noted that “The courts investigated many allegations of abuse and torture during the year; however, they rarely convicted or punished offenders. When courts did convict offenders, punishment generally was minimal and sentences were sometimes suspended. Authorities typically allowed officers accused of abuse to remain on duty and, in some cases, promoted them during their trial, which often took years.” [5b] (section 1d)
8.10 The USSD 2005 Report also noted that “During the first six months of the year, prosecutors opened trials against 1,337 security personnel and other public officials on torture or abuse charges. During that period courts reached final verdicts in 531 torture and abuse cases begun in previous years, convicting 232 defendants and acquitting 1,005. Of the convicted officials, 30 were given jail terms, 32 were fined, seven were jailed and fined, and 163 were subject to other punishments.” [5b] (section 1d)
8.11 The Amnesty International (AI) Annual Report 2006 stated that:
“Torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials continued to be reported, with detainees allegedly being beaten; stripped naked and threatened with death; deprived of food, water and sleep during detention; and beaten during arrest or in places of unofficial detention. However, people detained on suspicion of committing ordinary crimes such as theft or for public disorder offences were particularly at risk of ill-treatment. Reports suggested that there were still many cases of law enforcement officials completely failing to follow lawful detention and investigative procedures and of prosecutors failing to ascertain that law enforcement officials had complied with procedures.” [12d]