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DISASTER AT KIZILDERE 31 1
where they enjoyed a strong network of support. On 24 January
the Turkish Interior Minister told parliament that intelligence
on further plots had been obtained, and new groups of terrorists
were training abroad. As a result, the parliament voted to
extend the period of martial law.32 Although the trials of most
of the activists were public, additional military tribunals were
proceeding in secret. In March no fewer than fifty-seven officers
were removed from the armed forces and were awaiting
trial on charges of assisting the TPLA. Their crimes ranged from
providing target intelligence and supplying arms, to aiding the
five prison escapees in November 1971. 33 Nervous of further
escape attempts, some of tbe convoys taking the accused from
jails to the courts were now escorted by tanks. 34
On 14 March 1972 the American Embassy received a warning
from the Turkish intelligence services that because of the
impending execution of three of the most prominent terrorists,
including Deniz Gezmi~, further kidnap attempts were likely.
The Americans regarded the warning as 'particularly significant',
and concluded that the danger of kidnapping would remain
high for some time to come. 35 A week later, President Cevdet
Sunay signed the order for the executions to go ahead in the
next few weeks. 36
Always looking for a high-profile target, the TPLA leader in
Istanbul proposed the occupation of a Western embassy, but
after some reconnaissance work it was concluded that security
was so tight that the scheme was abandoned. Instead, they
turned their attention to the more remote intelligence bases.
They now chose a GCHQ sigint site at Carsamba, near the Black
Sea town of Unye, where new equipment made by Plessey and
Marconi was being installed. This was close to a larger American
sigint site at Samsun. Surprisingly, despite the kidnapping of
the American sigint personnel the previous year, security was
poor. The kidnapping operation was led by Mahir Cayan, and
had strong local support from left-wing lawyers and teachers
who had been sacked as a result of the recent government clampdown,
and were happy to assist the militants. They knew that