Turkey: Weapons smuggling concentrated at Syria border

During operations of the Security General Directorate's Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crime Department (KOM) over the last seven years, over 5,600 pistols, including 754 Glock guns and 326 long-barrel rifles and 613 shotguns, were seized, according to official figures.

Weapons of foreign origin captured as a result of operational activities and investigations by the Security General Directorate reportedly entered the country via the customs gates, where barriers are insufficient due to the mountainous terrain along the Iraqi and Syrian borders and a busy border trade.

The weapons are brought to Turkey by smugglers who live along the borders and make a living through smuggling. These weapons are transported via trucks or other vehicles which carry loads from northern Iraq to Turkey through the border gates.

Among the weapons seized by the KOM teams over the last seven years are 754 Austrian-made Glocks, popularly known as "ghost guns." Mustafa Yucel Ozbilgin, a Council of State judge in Ankara, said that during the last two years, there was a spike in seizures of Glock guns, a weapon also used also in the 2006 murder of Father Andrea Santoro in Trabzon. "Last year, 316 Glocks were captured in the police's responsibility area, compared with 350 in 2005, 87 in 2004 and one in 2002," he said. No Glocks were reported in 2000, 2001 and 2003, according to security statistics.

Speaking to the Anatolia news agency about the Glocks, a security official said: "The claim that the Glocks aren't detected by X-ray scanners is an unfounded rumor started by arms dealers." Telling how the Glocks' mixture of polymer-carbon was designed by an Austrian, the official added, "This got the attention of the security forces, since these weapons are functional in all kinds of weather." Emphasizing that Glocks are the world's first plastic alloy weapons and weigh about 650 grams, the official said: "Out of this weight, almost 500 grams are steel barrel and other components."

The official stressed that the technology used in the Glocks is also now used in many weapons, he added: "In addition to renowned international weapons makers, the domestic armament industry produces polymer-waist weapons. Glocks are preferred since they are light, easily repaired and resistant to bad weather, and are available in many models in various calibers other than 7.65. Especially the Glock-18 model can be made full automatic by modifying it."

The New Anatolian
15 March 2007