Turkey is bracing itself for fresh revelations of political wrong-doing, after new evidence emerged of links between the state and right-wing gangs.
The latest twist in a long running security scandal reads more like the plot of a best-selling thriller. One of the country's most wanted men, right-wing extremist Mr Alaattin Cakici, was arrested last week in the south of France. He was carrying an official diplomatic passport, which the government says was given to him by a Turkish intelligence agent serving in Beijing, China. Mr Cakici is wanted in connection with a series of murders and extortion rackets. When he was arrested, a notebook was seized which allegedly contains the telephone numbers of many powerful people in Turkey - politicians, intelligence officers and senior policemen. It has already been revealed that Mr Cakici was in contact with a government minister, who is a close ally of Prime Minister Mesut Yilmaz. The minister, Mr Eyup Asik, has denied any wrongdoing.
There have also been suggestions the gangster had close ties with politicians who are now in opposition. Local media reports speak of a war breaking out in the higher echelons of the intelligence services, but it's still not clear who the real political masters are. Allegations that right-wing death squads were employed by the state to kill political opponents and business rivals first emerged two years ago, when a car carrying a wanted mafia boss, a government MP and a senior policeman crashed in the western town of Susurluk.
Only the MP survived the crash, but official documents bearing the signature of the then interior minister were found in the wreckage of the vehicle. The former minister and the MP are now facing criminal charges of abuse of power.
For days Turkish newspapers have been carrying banner headlines about the arrest of Mr Cakici and its possible consequences. And the authorities have begun the process of trying to extradite him. He is not the only right-wing extremist to have been taken into custody in the last few weeks. And many observers in Turkey believe this sequence of events could mean that official protection for criminals who have served the state in highly dubious ways could be coming to an end.
"Two leading gangsters have been captured abroad, and a third has returned to Turkey to face his punishment," said the national police chief, Mr Necati Bilican. "The noose has tightened and we will not give up the pursuit."
The National Security Council, which groups senior ministers and the country's powerful generals, emphasised this week it is determined to pursue the struggle against organised crime. There is a still a widespread public belief, however, that many individuals who will resist efforts to clean up the state remain in positions of influence.
"The capture of Alaattin Cakici has made a lot of people very nervous," wrote one local columnist, "and this story is not yet over".
Turkish women's rights campaigners yesterday demanded that police step up action to solve the mystery kidnapping of Islamist feminist, Ms Konca Kuris, who was abducted on July 17th.
Ms Kuris, who appeared regularly on Turkish television, shot into the limelight by advocating that women take a more active role in Muslim practice, including standing beside men during funeral prayers. She also upset traditionalists by backing proposals that Muslim worship in Turkey should be carried out in Turkish as opposed to Arabic.