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Armed Met checkpoints to tackle Turk turf war
Justin Davenport and Neil Millard12 Oct 2009
Police are deploying armed checkpoints in north London to tackle feuding Turkish gangs engaged in a bloody turf war.
Detectives are now linking at least three murders and three shootings while a fourth killing where two suspects have been charged is also thought to be the work of gang members.
Now Scotland Yard has revealed details of an operation to tackle the gangs including deploying extra armed officers on patrol in four north London boroughs.
Checkpoints using police marksmen and automatic number plate recognition cameras will be used to check for vehicles associated with known gunmen.
The initiative follows two killings within three days of each other earlier this month.
Senior detectives are concerned that innocent passers-by could be caught up in the escalating violence which is being played out on the streets often in broad daylight.
On 2 October businessman Oktay Erbasli, 23, was shot dead at the wheel of his Range Rover Vogue in Tottenham in front of a woman passenger and her five-year-old son.
Mr Erbasli is believed to have been a member of the Tottenham Boys gang who was targeted by a motorcycle hitman from the rival group the Bombacilar or the Bombers.
Three days later in an apparent revenge attack shop worker Cem Duzgun, 21, was shot dead as he watched football in a Turkish social club in Clapton.
Two men walked up to the door of the club and one opened fire indiscriminately with an Uzi-style semi-automatic weapon.
Police are now linking the murders to a series of other shootings, stabbings and armed robberies.
They include the murder in March of innocent shopkeeper Ahmet Paytak, 50, who was blasted in the stomach by a hitman on a motorcycle as he tried to protect his son in the doorway of the Euro Food & Wine store in Holloway. His son, Huseyin, 22, was wounded but survived.
Police have offered a £20,000 reward to catch the killer and issued an appeal to trace the hitman's motorcycle, a rare Benelli model of which only 112 have been registered in Britain.
In Enfield on 6 April a 30-year-old Turkish man suffered gunshot wounds to the back and shoulder after an incident in Bulwer Road, Edmonton.
Then in July Flying Squad officers were called to investigate an attempted robbery in Haringey in which a man was shot in the arm.
Three men entered the Cypros Food Warehouse in Tariff Road armed with an axe, a firearm and a sledgehammer. A second man was hit on the shoulder with the axe.
In a sixth incident in Enfield on 28 August the windows of a snooker club in Green Street were shot out and a 17-year-old was shot in the arm in what police believe was another attack by a Turkish gang.
Detectives also believe that a fourth killing, in which a teenager was stabbed to death earlier this year, is also linked to Turkish gang members. Two people have been charged in connection with the stabbing.
Senior officers say that it is pure luck that there have not been more killings.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said police had searched 12 addresses and seized two guns in a crackdown on the gangs and further action was planned this week in the four boroughs involved, Haringey, Hackney, Enfield and Islington.
He said: “Leaflets are being distributed across the four boroughs to provide community reassurance and make residents aware of ongoing police activity.
“The vast majority of the Turkish community are law abiding citizens who - like police - won't tolerate violence in their area. This ongoing activity aims to target the small minority who insist on breaking the law.
“It is, however, important to be clear that we cannot deal with this issue alone. We need the help of the community who act as our eyes and ears and need to come forward to assist us with crucial elements of our investigations around these incidents"
Reader views (35)
If illegal drugs were made available under some sort of control would these gangster's exist without earning huge monies from these supplies.
If you are addicted you can probably get help, if you've just started out and then persist to take then your in trouble, this is the suppliers market and you'll pay until you are in need of desperate help.
You can control the addicted problem with their supplies but you can't accomodate the first timer's ladder to destruction, this is the weakness the drug dealers play on, how you overcome this, i wonder?
- Tony, Basildon, 13/10/2009 00:18
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As a resident of East London I'm aghast at these shootings and I agree that reform of the immigration system is well overdue to keep criminal elements out of the country. Perhaps we could have a questionnaire at the
point of entry into the country which asked people questions like "Are you entering the UK with the intention of murdering or fatally maiming anyone?" and "Are you intending to enter the UK with the purpose of selling or traffiking in narcotics?" Then we just deny entry to anyone who answers yes to these. To make it not too obvious we'd throw in questions like "Do you like Emmerdale Farm?" or "What is the suitable apparel for Royal Ascot?" so the would-be criminals would never suspect. Our streets will be safe again in no time. Job done.
- John Edwards, East London, 12/10/2009 22:14
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I think its strange that as soon as there is a shooting within the black community you have the name Trident mentioned and a connection between the black community and drugs is made straight away but as soon as there is gang warfare between Turks or any other minority all the Met do is talk about armed check points. Those nefarious Turkish minorities who give the majority of decent Turks a bad name need a spotlight shone on them for they have been dealing heroin and other illegal substances out of their cafes for years and this escalating turf war is a symptom of this which the Met have been aware of for many years now. An example of this is the well documented torture chamber used by these Turkish/Kurdish gangs that were found in Haringey a few years ago. It just strikes me as strange that there is no well known task force assembled to deal with this breed of criminal and it jus follows a pattern the Met engage that when ever there is a major crime they flood the areas involved with beat officers to reassure the community then a few weeks later they are gone.......until the next time.
- Will, Tottenham, London, 12/10/2009 19:48
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Some of your commentators refer to well known British thugs in order to divert critisism of foreign criminals. The fact is we have had and have enough of our own villians without importing not just Turkish but East European thugs who by the way appear have less compunction in useing guns than our own. So lets capture them and return them to their own Motherland where their countrymen can suffer them.
And also I doubt if there any British criminals wreaking havoc in those particular countrys. I wonder why these foreign gangs find us such a country of opportunity. Perhaps those who take exception to "Foreign" being mentioned would like to consider that!
Peter
Farnham
- Peter French, farnham England, 12/10/2009 18:43
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Some people have a real problem addressing the fact that foreign criminals have been arriving with the sole intent of carrying out a criminal lifestyle in our city. It obviously makes a few people of foreign extraction squirm to hear them described factually, as foreigners. Whatever their extraordinary sensitivities, it won't diminish the escalating problems that our citizen's, police and tardy government urgently face now. Gun law in London.
It has been by turning our backs on the sources of these armed street battles that has let this situation arise. Too much sensitivity has allowed overseas criminals to get away with terror and murder on the streets. We've passed the point where we can continue to wring our hands and look the other way. Too many too quickly have been allowed to worm their way into the country illegally. A smaller number trickling through, would have been absorbed gradually into the crime network generally. These violent drugs gangs are something different. As someone stated, life to them is cheap. It's nonsensically PC to deny that they are foreign and causing huge problems for us. Admitting to where they originate from throws light on how they operate and why they are such a problem for the police network to penetrate or get tip-offs. Trying to mask the foreign aspect will only lead us to where we are now, sitting on our hands doing nothing. That has got us to the mayhem we've allowed to build up, with no shortage of new gang recruits arriving.
- Take It In Hand, London, 12/10/2009 17:50
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And why have they not included Cricklewood? Comprised of 3 boroughs, Barnet, Brent, and Camden, 100s of 'kebab shops' and young immigrant Turks who strangely speak little or no English and have recently (in the last 2 years) driven out nearly every small shopkeeper in the area to create one homogenous unit of THE SAME SHOPS all next door to each other, making very little sales. Why isn't anyone inspecting their accounts for a start off. And I am informed reliably that they access these shops by buying out the previous Lessee with a cash incentive and paying 5 years rent up front to greedy landlords who lease out / cash sell substandard properties to unknown people - this practise is not even covered by any legislation other than the vendor / landlord must have 'no knowledge that the funds are from an illegal source'!!!
- Real, London, 12/10/2009 17:48
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@Bob - There is a count of citizens - its called the census. unfortunately people lie.
What if - just brain storming here - we had some form of register and token system, that allowed the authorities to check who you were. You could have it so it stated on the carry around bit, your eligibility to be in the country, and if you weren't allowed to be here you wouldn't have one. If you made it out of plastic, about the same size as a credit card then everyone would get used to it and no one would object.......hold on, that sounds like an ID card.
- Tom, London, 12/10/2009 17:19
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Sasha Simic, Hackney, London E9...
I think the point is.. we have enough criminals here already without importing yet more from other countries whether these are Turkish or not... all immigrated criminals ‘upon conviction’ should be relieved of their ‘British citizenship’ (if in fact they have acquired this) and sent back to wherever they are from...
- Ade, London, 12/10/2009 16:48
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Were the Krays Turkish? Was Fred West from Turkey? Was Peter (the Yorkshire Ripper) Sutcliffe Turkish? Was Harold Shipman Turkish? Was Beverley Allitt from Turkey? Or Dennis Nilsen? Or Ian Brady and Myra Hindley?
Was David Copeland, the nazi sympathiser who planted three nail bombs in London in 1999 aimed at London's ethnic and gay community from Turkey? He injured 139 people and killed three people including a pregnant woman. I don't recall he came from Turkey.
- Sasha Simic, Hackney, London E9, 12/10/2009 16:25
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Who really cares whether these people are Kurds or Turks or Cypriots? They are murderous thugs who need to be dealt with firmly.
- James Elliott, Eastborne UK, 12/10/2009 16:17
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Decency - you just don't get it, do you? This isn't a turf war being fought by British people. It's being fought by foreign nationals who, by hook or by crook, have found their way into the UK. This is why immigration is being discussed, as the whole thing is an issue which has arisen from the failure of the government to control our borders. Joined-up thinking. You should give it a go.
- Jock, London, 12/10/2009 16:11
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Whoever gave the directives to the police to go softly softly on these guys up to now are real plonkers. The rapid rise of so much foreign crime going on just swells the EDL and the BNP memberships. Plonkers.
- Ken, London, 12/10/2009 14:44
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These gangs are KURDISH gangs who were welcomed and supported by the UK as 'freedom fighters' against Turkey. These gangs are NOT Turkish, have nothing to do with Turkey any longer, they were asylum seekers, now refugees and most of them are now full citizens of the UK.
Please do not bash Turks and Turkey before realising these gangs are not Turkish. Bitain supported and accepted these former Kurdish PKK terrorists as freedom fighters and now Britain should deal with them too.
- G.S., London, 12/10/2009 14:28
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It makes me laugh how immigration gets into this debate when the overiding issue here is DRUGS.
Would it be more acceptable if these gangs were UK natives?
- Decency, London, UK, 12/10/2009 14:13
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It is a third world country governed by Labour idiots elected in the main by Scots, North of England cloth cappers and the Welsh need I say more !!!
- Nick Holland, glasgow, 12/10/2009 14:12
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A couple of points to consider here:
Turkey is not in the EU, correct, however Cyprus was under British rule for some time. Therefore a large number of Turks are actually Cypriots. This is the side effect of colonising other countries.
The other issue is that Kurds are not Turks. They historically do not like each other, and even speak a different language. The only thing in common is that many Kurds come from Turkey, as well as Iraq and Iran. You blame Winston Churchill for this one when they carved up the country of Iraq to suit European interests.
- History, LONDON, 12/10/2009 13:21
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This is akin to letting armed killers into this Country that are known by Interpol and giving them free reign. Conservative Party will continue with this abuse of our Human Constitutional Rights if they win the next general election, as Mr cameron would allow more into this country without stopping any miscreants.
Almost as if a break down of Law & Order is envisaged to bring forth Martial Law as part of NWO, as our Democracy will soon be finished.
- Bill, Hay~Heath UK, 12/10/2009 13:13
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Just wait until they join the EU.
- Squiz, Islington, 12/10/2009 13:11
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congratulations, this govenment has lost control of immigration and here's the evidence
- Dominique Marion, london, 12/10/2009 12:42
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Just let them carry on shooting each other, it saves tax payers subsidising their worthless wretched lives.
These gangs also give decent immigrants a bad name, I lived in Bounds Green right next to Tottenham 6 years ago, and it was more or less lawless.
Vile place, with lots of vile people .
- P Staker, Londonistan., 12/10/2009 12:41
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Like the man says: "The vast majority of the Turkish community are law abiding citizens who won't tolerate violence in their area." No need to exaggerate, stereotype or wheel out the anti-immigrant hysteria.
- Nolan, Londonist, 12/10/2009 12:38
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Who to blame ? Its the government, they allow them in and can not control them coming into the country and doing their evil deeds.If they were self supporting money wise ok ,but its the tax payer who funds their trips to hospital and policing e.t.c. These are very powerful people who have seen a lot in life mainly bad.To them life is cheap. Expect worse to come ,but dont expect the government to do anything about it.In the future i foresee gangs of all nationalities battling for control of the streets where money has to be made illegally as the country sinks.
- Allan, Brasil, 12/10/2009 12:38
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To Bruce, Bob, Charles, Patricia, Jock, Zavvy, Frank and Jilly : How right you all are. I feel just the same. And so , probably, do millions of others. But all our comments on this subject are wasted now. Even if millions of people wrote in, nothing would be done. It's too late. This is England now. Take it or leave it. It won't get any better because no government has the will to do the right thing for the people of this country.
- Chris, London,, 12/10/2009 12:35
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This is exactly what happens when you let immigration and bogus assylum seekers get out of control. Thanks to NuLiarBore the world's criminals are welcome in the UK.
- T.Nicholson, Bedale, UK, 12/10/2009 12:31
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There have always been gangs in London, right back to medieval times.
Throughout history, the one thing that has linked all gang activity is the control of the narcotics trade.
Either the government legalises narcotics and becomes the biggest dealer on the street (nothing new, look up opium wars on wikipedia) or we introduce draconian sentances (or maybe even capital punishment) on people caught selling/storing/trafficking narcotics for commerical sale.
- Decency, London, UK, 12/10/2009 12:20
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All of those involved in this should be rounded up and deported. Turkey is not an EU country and we are under no obligation to accommodate its criminal scum.
- Keith Lonsdale, Doncaster, 12/10/2009 12:08
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@ Bob, London
I blame Nu Liebour!
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 12/10/2009 12:04
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Criminals coming in illegally and bogus criminal asylum seekers have swarmed into Britain in the last decade. They've been left, almost unchecked to flourish. Their numbers have exploded and we've Turkish, Kurds, Yardy's from Jamaica, Tamil fraud and petrol station scammers, Pakistani drug outfits, African credit card fraudster gangs, as well as the varying Eastern European gangs, all operating on Britain's streets. They're not hidden. Once here, they operate quite brazenly and with impunity.(Chinese gangs keep low). Such contempt for our abilities to crackdown or shift them, has let them run their battles and turf wars openly on the streets. Using sub machine guns. That's what frightens and appals. Most have found their way here illegally through our lax borders. As well as Abu Hamza and all the other hate preachers who were openly hostile to the populace, these violent criminals contribute to alienation from the mainstream, and a backlash against foreigners, even established migrants. That's a consequence of this apparent lawlessness. It took years of helpless by standing to get Hamza and the like off our streets. And that was only at the intervention of the United States.
Let's hope the next government (soon), tightens up controls on preventing serious criminals and their organisations from arriving here and thriving with impunity. The present government has written the blueprint for establishing anti immigrant, anti foreigner backlashes that was so utterly avoidable
- Bruce, London, 12/10/2009 12:00
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There is a count of citizens - its called the census. unfortunately people lie.
There are other ways of determing numbers - comparing the people who receive NHS treatment with the census count and border records would be start. However, that can't be done because of census confidentiality and NHS privacy rules.
If treatment was only given to those with a valid NHS Number, and those numbers were only issued after passport and border control records, then we would start to get a real idea of numbers, particularly if those data were cross referenced with tax and NI. Again, such data sharing is not allowed, so we will never control illegals and overstayers.
I should add before the normal "blame nu labour" mob start, these data sharing restrictions have existed since long before 1997 and it is an issue that no Party wants to deal with.
- Bob, London, 12/10/2009 11:50
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I am so glad that these people have come here to make the boring old British society that we used to have so much more 'vibrant' and 'diverse'. Where would we be without them?
When will the British people ever wake up and realise that action needs to be taken to reclaim our country before it disappears forever.
- Charles, Bath, 12/10/2009 11:47
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This a very worrying "trend" in London. I work in the NHS and the amount of Turkish speakers that require an interpreter but are British citizens is increasing alarmingly. Why are these people who can't speak the language and are not part of the EU being allowed residency in the UK?
- Patricia, London, 12/10/2009 11:15
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Of course, the PC brigade will be up in arms over this, while still believing there's nothing wrong with the situation in the Tottenham township.
It's time we had a proper headcount in this country, to find out who exactly is living here. If that means the UK Border Agency knocking on the door of every building in the land, then so be it!
- Jock, London, 12/10/2009 11:01
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A lot of these gangs are Turkish Kurds who arrived as asylum seekers.
- Zavvy, London, 12/10/2009 10:25
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If you allow the third world into our country, our country very quickly becomes a third world.
Turkey is not even in the Euro zone, what are these people doing here?!
- Frank, Home Counties, England., 12/10/2009 09:22
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Remove any British Citizenship and deport anybody caught committing a crime back to Turkey.
Confiscate any property they have to go into the national police funds to pay for their deportation. If they have family that depends upon them, well deport them also, that way the family might just persuade them to act as good citizens.
Any other incoming nationality commits the same crime, deport them as well, including those born here of the same family, if dependent.
- Jilly, City, 12/10/2009 09:20
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