Mahmut Yıldırım

Mahmut Yıldırım
Born	Mahmut Yıldırım (1953-05-03) 3 May 1953 (age 71) Yenidal, Bingöl, Turkey
Disappeared	1998 Damascus, Syria
Other names	Ahmet Demir Yeşil (from Turkish, meaning "green")
Citizenship	Turkey

Mahmut Yıldırım (born 3 May 1953) is a Turkish counter-guerrilla and spy of Zaza Kurd origin. Yildirim, who identified himself to the public as Ahmet Demir but was called by the code-name Yeşil among intelligence, disappeared in 1998.[1] In 1999, he was the subject of an Interpol red notice.[1] In 2013, security guard Korkut Eken claimed that he was still alive.[2][3] Among the murders he is accused of is that of Cem Ersever in 1993.[4]

Investigation

According to former National Intelligence Organization (MİT) official Mehmet Eymür (speaking in 2011), Yeşil at one time worked for the MİT in Elazığ, but was later let go as he was "out of control." Eymür said that Yeşil later worked with the Turkish Gendarmerie's shadowy JİTEM unit until 1995, and "was given identification cards. Some of his cards even included the title of the 'Prime Ministry Intelligence'.". Eymür said that by 1995 Yeşil had again gotten "out of control" and was moved to Ankara, where he was introduced to Eymür (then head of the MİT's Counter-Terrorism Department), with Eymür unaware of Yeşil's status as a wanted criminal. Eymür said he used Yeşil in several operations, but only outside Turkey, and that he was never formally an agent.[5][6] In 2012, the MİT told prosecutors (in a document leaked to the press) that it had used Yıldırım in four operations, including the one which captured Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) commander Şemdin Sakık in 1998. MIT later denied that Yıldırım was an MİT agent, and said it had never used Yıldırım inside Turkey.[7]

In 2006 Mehmet Ali Birand said that JİTEM had asked Yıldırım to assassinate him, but that the operation was later cancelled, after Yıldırım had already investigated Birand's home security. Birand said that MİT chief Şenkal Atasagun was one of those who had told him of this episode.[8]

According to mob boss Sedat Peker speaking in 2011, MİT official Tarık Ümit was "kidnapped in retaliation for Yeşil having kidnapped two Iranian drug dealers [Iranian spies Lazım Esmaeili and Askar Simitko, abducted January 1995] in İstanbul at the time."[9]

Ergenekon suspect Semih Tufan Gülaltay says Eymür introduced him to Yeşil.[10][11]

Mahmut Yıldırım's son, Murat Yıldırım, published a book about him, Yeşil: Savaşçı ("Green: The Fighter"; Timas Publishing Group, 2009).

Trial

Yıldırım was one of four people charged by a Diyarbakır court in 2013 with the 1992 murder of Musa Anter, with Yıldırım tried in absentia.[12]

Popular culture

Valley of the Wolves (TV series) Hakan Boyav's characters Kara (Mazhar Yıldıran) original life of Yeşil Mahmut Yıldırım.

See also

• List of fugitives from justice who disappeared

Books

• Murat Yıldırım (2009), Yeşil: savaşçı, Timas Publishing Group
• Hakantürk (2006), Yeşil öldü mü?, Akademi TV
• Çetin Ağaşe (2006), Kod adı yeşil, Truva Yayinlari

References

1. Sabah, 7 January 2012, Yeşil yaşıyor?
2. Cebe, Özgur (28 December 2008). "'Yeşil'e mahkeme bulunamıyor". Siyaset. Milliyet. Dogan News Agency. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
3. Today's Zaman, 16 September 2013, Former MİT officer claims JİTEM hitman ‘Yeşil' still alive Archived 2014-11-11 at the Wayback Machine
4. Today's Zaman, 22 December 2011, Parliament reopens case of most notorious state hitman Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine
5. Today's Zaman, 7 December 2011, Former MİT official Eymür puts blame on former police chief Ağar for extrajudicial killings Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
6. Today's Zaman, 2 December 2011, MİT official says he ‘knows much’ about past atrocities Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
7. Today's Zaman, 11 April 2012, MİT admits to using hitman ‘Yeşil’ four times Archived 2013-12-31 at the Wayback Machine
8. Today's Zaman, 14 May 2006, JITEM Wanted to Kill Birand Archived 2013-12-30 at the Wayback Machine
9. Today's Zaman, 3 November 2011, ‘Shady gang inside state was behind 1990s Kurdish businessmen’s assassinations’ Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine,
10. Kesler, Musa (30 December 2008). "Eymür'le ters düşen öldü". Güncel. Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 6 January 2009.
11. Kesler, Musa (27 December 2008). "Yeşil'in yanında bir bakan vardı". Güncel. Milliyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 6 January 2009.
12. Today's Zaman, 9 October 2013, JİTEM list provided in Anter murder trial to be kept confidential Archived 2013-10-30 at the Wayback Machine