saral

MHP leader Bahçeli has reconciled the Saral and Şahin families. In a statement, the MHP referred to them as “two esteemed families.” What is the history of these two families whose names have been linked to organized crime?

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) announced via its social media account that its Chairman, Devlet Bahçeli, had met with the Saral and Şahin families at the MHP Headquarters.

The MHP announced the reconciliation of these families, long at odds, with the statement: “Two esteemed families of our country, the Saral and the Şahin, came together at our headquarters with our Chairman, Mr. Devlet Bahçeli, in a historic meeting and embrace.”

So, who are the Saral and Şahin families reconciled by the MHP leader, and how are they known to the public?

“The Sarals are the second-largest criminal organization”

The Saral family originates from the Of district of Trabzon. Although the MHP has referred to them as a “distinguished family,” the public knows them as an organized crime group, a gang, or a mafia. According to 2021 data and police reports, the family is the second-largest organized crime group in Türkiye, with 347 armed members, ranking only behind Alaattin Çakıcı’s organization.

The group was led by Hüseyin Saral from the 1990s until 2005. It is alleged that Hüseyin Saral was killed by Mehmet Ali Büyüksarıoğlu and Sedat Şahin in 2005. On January 30, 2017, Hüseyin Saral’s son, Hüseyin Mert Saral, killed Mehmet Ali Büyüksarıoğlu.

Prosecutor’s indictment: A vast structure comprising 35,000–40,000 people

A report by Serdar Kulaksız of Habertürk, dated January 15, 2017, based on an indictment prepared by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, states that the gang was a vast organization comprising 35,000 to 40,000 members.

The indictment prepared following the investigation into the July 19, 2016, killings of Veysel Salihoğlu and Tufan Gedik in Beşiktaş, Istanbul, alleges that Zafer Saral was a member of an armed criminal organization driven by profit motives and attempted to acquire a high-value share in a fuel storage facility owned by Veysel Salihoğlu for a price below market value. It is stated that suspect Yaşar Necmi Dardağan acted as an intermediary, but when Salihoğlu could not be persuaded, Dardağan alerted Zafer Saral and his associates, arranging for them to come to the scene.

Between 2004 and 2017, 23 people were killed in the conflicts between the Saral and Şahin factions. Among the deceased were Hüseyin Saral, Sedat Şahin’s brother Vedat Şahin, and Kenan Şirin, the leader of the Şirinler gang. Additionally, Atalay Cebesoy, a lawyer for grey-wolf mafia figures such as Sedat Şahin, Alaattin Çakıcı, Erol Evcil, and Haluk Kırcı, was killed during this period.

Numerous operations were conducted against the group between 2022 and 2024. Hundreds of individuals were arrested as members of the organization. Journalist Tolga Şardan of T24 reported that friction had arisen between the then-Minister of the Interior, Süleyman Soylu, and the then-Istanbul Police Chief, Zafer Aktaş, as a result of these operations.

According to a report dated November 11, 2022, Soylu asked Aktaş why he had not been informed about the operation targeting the Sarals. In response to Soylu’s criticism, Aktaş replied, “Whenever we told you, there were leaks.”

A plot of assassination attempt against Şahin using a rocket launcher was announced

Most recently, on September 10, 2026, an operation was conducted against the Sarals on the grounds that they were plotting an assassination targeting Sedat Şahin. A statement issued by the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the matter reported that a location operating as a landscaping site in Beykoz, Istanbul, had been identified and that a large quantity of ammunition was seized during a search involving detector dogs.

It was determined that Yakup Kerem Saral, a fugitive member of the Saral criminal organization who was previously the subject of an Interpol Red Notice, had planned an attempt on the life of Sedat Şahin, the leader of the Şahinler criminal organization, and that the seized criminal materials had been transported to a container at the site one day prior to the operation for use in this planned attack.

Şahins are the third-largets mafia group in Turkey

Like the Saral group, the Şahins also hail from the Black Sea region. The group’s leader, Sedat Şahin, is from Samsun’s Bafra district. According to 2021 police data, the group, with its 257 armed members, ranks as Türkiye’s third-largest mafia organization, following the Alaattin Çakıcı and Saral groups.

Sedat Şahin was released on July 20, 2023, from Izmir Buca Prison, where he had served eight years for charges including “unauthorized possession or transfer of hazardous materials,” “armed robbery of multiple persons via highway interception,” and “intentional homicide.” His release sparked controversy.

On July 19, the day before the judicial recess began, Şahin’s lawyers appealed the court’s decision to continue his detention. Duty judge Hakan Türkön and two other presiding judges, who had stepped in for the regular panel that went on recess on July 20, reviewed the appeal, resulting in the release of Şahin and three other defendants. Türkön, who also issued the release order for Alaattin Ilyas Saral (detained as the leader of the Saral gang) the next day, was appointed to the Supreme Court on July 26. Following his release, Şahin’s first visit was to Bahçeli.

Sedat Şahin’s name was linked to drugs for the first time

Sedat Şahin, whose criminal record involving drugs dates back to 1984, was supported by Alaattin Çakıcı from the early 1990s through the 2000s. However, their relationship later soured after Şahin clashed with Erol Evcil, another mafia figure and close associate of Çakıcı.

Although held responsible for the 1994 killings of Hüseyin Temurtaş and his son Çetin Temurtaş, Şahin was released pending trial in 1997. When the Istanbul Police moved to arrest him that same year, he fled to Germany.

In 1998, he was apprehended in Berlin while visiting his wife, who had just given birth, carrying a forged Italian passport. He remained in custody in Europe for two years before being extradited to Turkey in 2000. He was subsequently imprisoned alongside his brother, Vedat Şahin. Findings that Mustafa Bülent Arslan, Bilal Akın, Oktay Cincioğlu, and Okan Öztürk had also been killed by the Şahin faction were added to the case file, holding him responsible for a total of seven deaths. Despite this, he was released in October 2000; it is alleged that his release was secured through his connections to Alaattin Çakıcı.

Following operations in 2005 that resulted in the detention of 102 individuals across eight provinces, Sedat Şahin was sentenced to three life terms plus 40 years and 5 months in prison for crimes including establishing a criminal organization, instigating intentional homicide, extortion, and unlawful confinement. In 2011, while the case at the Istanbul 9th ​​High Criminal Court was ongoing, Sedat Şahin’s lawyers applied for his release, citing Article 102 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CMK), which regulates detention periods, on the grounds that his time in custody had exceeded five years. Sedat Şahin and his associates were released.