In 2016, Serdar Özyurt, one of the founders of DNS Defense, stated in an interview that his company was accused of arms smuggling. He suggested that the reason for this was a conspiracy made by FETÖ (Source). However, it was later revealed that the smuggling involving DNS Defense was filled with highly suspicious events. It soon became clear that this company was responsible for various military ammunition that was smuggled to ISIS in Syria.
DNS Defense was officially established on December 22, 2015. DNS Defense company was officially based in Ankara but it was targeting the arms market in Kyrgyzstan. The main purpose of the company was to export arms to various regions, especially Kyrgyzstan. Besides PKM and AK variants, The company also had ATGMs such as Konkurs in their inventory.
Nuri Gökhan Bozkır used to be a Major in a special operations unit until his dismissal. His name stands out among the founders in a catalog published by DNS Defense. The name of N. G. Bozkır goes from being a member of an illegal gang called ‘Sauna Gang’ to blackmail and the assassination of the Hablemitoğlu.
Bozkır’s name was first heard with the Sauna Gang, which blackmailed many well-known people. According to the allegation made in 2005, Bozkır was one of the members of this gang (Source).
It was also reported that Bozkır visited the police and governorship building in Hatay in 2012-2013 with FSA Commanders (Source). However, In September 2015, explosives were seized that were being sent to ISIS in Akcakale, Sanliurfa and Bozkır was among the suspects of this investigation. The explosives found were hidden behind onions. Therefore, this event was called the “Onion Truck Operation”. As a result of the investigation, the warehouse where the explosives were located before the truck was found. According to the records, 20 tons of explosives were required in the warehouse. However, only 6.5 tons of explosives were seized. The remaining 13.5 tons of explosives were not found (Source).
Many names in the investigation became clear as a result of the statements of the truck driver Yalçın Kaya. Yalcin Kaya, also said he told him the following:
“There is the Republic of Turkey behind us. There is nothing to fear. We will send this material for our Martyrs”.
“Arkamızda Türkiye Cumhuriyeti var. Korkulacak bir şey yok. Şehitlerimiz için bu malzemeyi göndereceğiz.” (Source, Source 2)
After a short time, Bozkır went to Ukraine and asked for political asylum. After the Bozkır’s departure for Ukraine, it also turned out to be that he is one of the perpetrators of the assassination of Necip Hablemitoğlu, who was killed in 2002. However, as a result of Bozkır’s lawsuit in Ukraine, the first house order was issued, but this sentence was abolished later.
Shortly after the Onion Truck Operation, N. G. Bozkır became one of the founders of DNS Defense, and after becoming one of the suspects, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır’s name was removed from DNS Defense’s website. However, it was possible to find the name of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır in the weapon catalogs (See Figure 1.1).
According to very comprehensive research conducted by Doğu Eroğlu; It was reported by several sources that 9M113 Konkurs ATGMs and Bulgarian LMG and LMG-Fs, which are also on the list of DNS Defense, are also used by ISIS. At the same time, according to the same report, 12.7 x 107mm Zastava HMG*s on the list of DNS Defense is said to be used by various organizations.
(Source: the book ‘ISIS Networks’ by Doğu Eroğlu (ISBN: 9789750524608))
On the other hand, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır is not the only DNS Defence manager who is smuggling arms for ISIS. When we officially investigate the Commercial Registry Record of DNS Defense through The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, we come across a name that is not included in DNS Defence’s website and catalogs: Ahmet Arif Saritas.
Arif İzzet Sarıtaş, the father of Ahmet Arif Sarıtaş, is one of the people who hired Yalçın Kaya in addition to Nüri Gökhan Bozkır. The fact that the father of the founder of the DNS Defence, whose name is not mentioned anywhere except for the official records of DNS, together with Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, served in sending weapons to ISIS, reveals how DNS is used for smuggling.
Another name for the arrest warrant in Onion Truck Operations was Ahmet Yasin Güneş. The role of Ahmet Yasin Güneş in this smuggling raises serious questions. Because Ahmet Yasin Güneş was a first lieutenant at the TAF. Doğan Güneş (not related to Ahmet Yasin Güneş), one of the defendants in the lawsuit, suggested in a petition that Ahmet Yasin Güneş introduced himself as a member of the MIT and offered him an official job offer.
Stating that Ahmet Yasin Güneş said that he had been carrying out special activities on behalf of the state, he said, “With these activities, they have collapsed people and organizations working against the state, and that they can take me to this team and that if I join the team, I will benefit from the state. When I asked which institution I would operate in, he said that they were operating on behalf of MIT, all activities were carried out officially, and the people in the team were given an official identity. ”
According to the statement in Cumhuriyet.com.tr:
Doğan Güneş stated that he accepted this offer because he wanted to serve the state and said, “We went to Ahmet Yasin Güneş’s car and went to a luxury villa right next to Gölbaşı Special Operations and I can describe the way. Here, there was Major Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, whose names I learned later, and Cem Şahin, who said he was a soldier in special forces, and another person whose name I did not know. After waiting for a while another 4 people came with another car. After these people arrived, they brought out 2 Stinger missiles from the roof of the house. Meanwhile, Ahmet Yasin Güneş told me to wait at the door. Shortly afterwards, 4 people who came after went out and went. Ahmet Yasin Güneş said that we should left afterwards. ” (Source)
In addition, it was determined by the same reports that a former police officer named Mesut Doğanay was assisted by this group in dealing with bureaucratic works.
Of course, it was not possible for DNS Defense company to remain active after these events. It is possible to find the weapons in the inventory of the TAF in the hands of ISIS. Although there is no clear information about the origin of these weapons, it is extremely possible to say that DNS Defense and the founders of this company are involved in this business due to their military connections. In the research conducted by Conflict Armament Research (CAR), some of these weapons and ammunition were documented. CAR also stated that they could not get an official answer by the Government of Turkey.
Today, only Serdar Özyurt, one of the founders of DNS Defense, continues his arms export business with the Delta Defense Company he founded. Although it has been mentioned from time to time with DDG marked weapons, there is no document that Delta Defense is smuggling arms. However, due to the past ties with DNS Defense, the emergence of various questions is extremely natural.
* Although the name of the weapon is not mentioned in the research, it is likely that the weapon meant was the Zastava M02.
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