Pro-Government Militias
Hizbullah (Turkey)
Basic Group Information
| Name assigned by coder: | no |
| PGM ID Number: | 248 |
| Country: | Turkey |
| Date formed: | Jan. 1, 1985 |
| Accuracy of date formed: | decade |
| Details of Formation: | The emergence of the group is disputed. While government and army officials claim that they founded the group in 1985, there is also evidence that the group was created by Islamists following the 1980 Coup d’etat. In the second scenario the group factionalised in 1987 with respect to whether to take up arms; the faction promoting armed struggle won and in 1993 the group adopted the name Hizbullah. In this scenario, there is evidence that the Turkish government aligned itself with the group at some point during the 1980s (Wikipedia). |
| Date dissolved: | Jan. 17, 2000 |
| Accuracy of date dissolved: | day |
| Details of Termination: | In 2000, Hizbullah kidnapped several businessmen in Istanbul; the army reacted with raids against Hizbullah (Wikipedia). Moreover, according to a news source, the army did not need the Hizbullah anymore as the PKK was defeated. Hizbullah’s military leader Edip Gümüş was killed alongside others and over 6000 members were arrested (Wikipedia). However, the group continued to be active, and killed regional police chiefs and police officers in 2001 (Amnesty 2002). That same year Hizbullah decided to end armed struggle and founded an association called “Solidarity with the Oppressed” (Wikipedia). |
| Termination Type(s): | government defects |
Former and Successor Group Information
| Predecessor group(s): | none |
| Successor group(s): | none |
| Private Military Company? | no |
| Former Group? | unclear |
| Former Armed Group? | unclear |
| Former Rebel Group? | no information |
| Former Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
| PGM Becomes Rebel Group? | no information |
| Successor Rebel Group UCDP ID: | none |
Government Relation, Support, and Training
| Government Relation: | informal (type 1) |
| Created by the Government?: | unclear | Main Creating Government Institution: | none |
| Government Link(s): | state (institution); sub-national government; military (institution) |
| If link to party, name of party: | None |
| Training and Equipment: | yes |
| Shared Information and Joint Operations: | no information |
| Shared Personnel: | no |
| Type(s) of Material Support: | military |
| State Sponsor(s): | none |
| Other Connection(s): |
Group Characteristics
| Membership: | religious |
| Primary Membership: | religious |
| Alternative Primary Membership: | no information |
| Location: | South East, e.g. Batman |
| Force Strength: | [unknown, unknown] |
| Target(s): | rebels, insurgents, or other armed group; ethnic group; journalists |
| Purpose(s): | intimidation of ethnic/religious groups |
Ethnic Characteristics
| Ethnic Target(s): | Kurds (Turkey) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Targeting: | given |
| Ethnic Membership: | none |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Membership: | not applicable |
| Ethnic Purpose: | Kurds (Iraq) |
| Quality of Information for Ethnic Purpose: | given |
Other Information
| Other Information: | The Hizbullah is also known as Kurdish Hizbullah or with its alternative spelling “Hezbollah”. It is a Sunni Islamist militant organisation (Wikipedia) and is not related to the Lebanese group of the same name. |
New Variables from Meta-Analysis
Purpose
| Purpose: | The Turkish government and army cooperated with the Hizbullah against the Kurdistan Workers' Party PKK (Wikipedia). They allegedly profited from the factional fighting. |
| Relative Benefit(s) of PGM Use | unknown |
Treatment of Civilians
| Treatment of Civilians: | Over time, Hizbullah started to target not only the PKK but also people they considered to be with low morals (i.e. did not follow Islamic rules). They also killed journalists, mainly Kurds (Wikipedia). |
| Type(s) of Violence against Civilians: | killing |
Reasons for Membership
| PGM Members Coerced? | no |
| PGM Members Paid? | no information |
| Reasons for Membership: | According to the scenario in which the group was founded by Islamists, the group initially consisted of Islamists who wanted to develop Islamism in Turkey and believed that the democratic route would not be feasible (Wikipedia). |
| PGM Members Killed? | often |
PGM Size
| Size: | There is no estimate on size during the PGM’s existence but after the Hizbullah ceased to be pro-government, for 2002/2003 it is estimated they had somewhere between a few hundred and 20,000 members. |
Weapons and Training
| Weapons and Training: | had C-4 explosives (Wikipedia), automatic rifles, rockets and hand grenades. News sources suggest that they received these weapons from the Turkish government. → the red part has not yet been added, as it depends on the coding decision for the date of formation, because the evidence suggesting this is before the current date of formation. |
Organisation
| Organisation: | According to one of the founding scenario, the Hizbullah was founded by and had close ties to the army; Arif Doğan, a retired colonel of the army claims to have created it, as well as JİTEM (Wikipedia). News sources report links to the Batman governor and Prime Minister Tansu Ciller, who had allowed the distribution or weapons to this group. |
Reference(s) for Meta-Analysis
Evidence
- Examine the evidence for this coding.