The Unknowns of the National Intelligence Organization's 'Torture Center - Çiftlik'

Following the events of July 15, the unlawful practices experienced and imposed in all areas of Turkey not only legitimized illegal activities but also allowed state institutions to carry out these illegal activities with impunity. Various laws were enacted to openly encourage such practices. One of these is the kidnapping operations conducted by the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) both within the country and abroad.

MIT's methods of abduction were revealed through statements from various witnesses and relatives of the victims, as well as footage captured on camera. It has been confirmed through witness and victim testimonies that those abducted were subjected to inhumane treatment at a torture center known as "Çiftlik". New information and witness accounts have shed light on the extent of the horrors that occurred at the torture facility.

Here are the unknowns of the torture center “Çiftlik”

The sketch of the torture center, drawn in the framework of the victims' testimonies, and other details are as follows;

I) Hall - The stairs lead downwards and open into a hall.

II) Staff Room - The room has screens for monitoring cameras, a sofa and a single armchair. There is a passage through the room to another room used as a kitchen. There is a kitchen counter and cupboards.

III) Torture and Interrogation Room - One of the rooms where people who were kidnapped and interrogated under torture were kept. First there is a section called a courtyard and then there is a room. There is a bed only in this room. This room is completely dark, with no light.

IV) Torture and Interrogation Room - There is a courtyard and then a room. There is no bed inside. There is nothing for the physical needs of the interrogated people.

V) Torture and Interrogation Room - There is a courtyard and a room beyond it. There are no beds inside. In this room, unlike the others, the walls are covered with a soundproof material.

VI) Torture and Interrogation Room - There is a courtyard section and a room beyond it. There is no bed inside. Unlike the others, the walls of this room are covered with a soundproof material.

VII) Closed Room - It consists of a single section.

Dark, Cold, Extremely Loud Music and No Toilet

People abducted by MIT personnel are subjected to inhumane treatment in the “Çiftlik” torture center. There are no toilet bowls in the rooms. Inhumane and criminal acts such as sleep deprivation, starvation, constant loud music, loss of day and night awareness, drug interrogation, and electrocution are commonplace here. After July 15, 2016, the unit that played the most active role in the abductions was the MIT GIB (Security Intelligence Directorate).

There is no allegation or information that military personnel were tortured in this center. However, an amendment was made to the Penal Execution Regulation, paving the way for prisoners to be taken out of prison and interrogated upon the request of the relevant authority (including MIT). There are rumors that military members have been taken out of prison and interrogated in this context. Therefore, people in prison within the scope of the July 15 trials were forced to live with the fear and anxiety that they would be taken out of prison and tortured. People who were taken to prison after systematic torture were very sadly glad that they went to prison because the torture process was over, and they stated this in their statements. Moreover, the existence of this torture center and the powers granted to MİT and similar institutions have turned into a spiritual torture for these imprisoned people.

A Torture Center on the Atatürk Forest Farm Land

The place referred to as the MİT Farm (Çiftlik) is the additional service building of the Directorate of National Intelligence Organization and is located in the Atatürk Forest Farm (AOÇ) in Ankara. The offices used by Kemal Eskintan, then Head of Foreign Operations, are also located on the same campus.

Erhan Pekçetin, a senior MİT official who was abducted by the PKK terrorist organization, confessed in his confessions, which were also reflected in the press: “We also used the Special Activities Interrogation Compound as the head of the GİB (Security Intelligence Presidency). One day later, the “f... “department brought a male person. It is already a small place. It has three or four cells. There is also a place of protection. After he arrived, the head of the GIB Director made a phone call and said, 'Keep quiet, don't raise your voice. And turn off the cameras. There are cameras showing the cells.” With these words, he admitted the existence of the torture base.

Similarly, Ayten Öztürk, who was charged with membership of the DHKP-C at the Istanbul 3rd High Criminal Court, stated that after she was brought to Turkey on a private plane, she was subjected to severe torture, including beatings, electric shock, sexual and psychological torture, which left her with hundreds of wounds on her body and reduced her weight to 40 kilograms. Öztürk, who was tortured by people claiming to have been trained in human anatomy, said that his body broke down several times, that he was treated by a special team and then tortured again. Öztürk's testimony that the torture team described the place where he was staying as “the bottom of hell” was corroborated by the testimony of Erhan Pekçetin, a senior MİT official, and by many other victims who were abducted and taken to the torture center.

Dilaver Derviş