Chisinau, Moldova – A senior figure of the notorious London-based gang, the Tottenham Turks, İzzet Eren, was fatally shot in the capital of Moldova on Wednesday. The incident, taking place on a bustling café terrace, marks a violent end for the 41-year-old, who had been involved in organized crime for decades.
Eren was attacked while seated outside in the Riscani district, where an assailant on an electric scooter opened fire, shooting him in the head before fleeing the scene. Moldovan police, describing the murder as a professional hit, have launched a search for the unidentified gunman, noting that such drive-by shootings are uncommon in the city.
Previously, Eren had been a fugitive, escaping from a Turkish prison one month after his 2019 transfer from the UK, where he had been serving a 21-year sentence for firearms offenses. In May 2022, Moldovan authorities detained Eren, and at the time of his death, he was free pending extradition proceedings back to the UK.
Eren’s criminal resume dates to the 1990s, including severe offenses such as drug-related assaults and murders. His crimes include involvement in the 1994 shooting of Mehmet Kaygısız during a café game of backgammon, an act initially attributed to drug gang rivalry.
Further complicating his criminal activities, Eren was also reportedly connected to the attempted murder of Nafiz Bostancı, acts believed to be orchestrated by connections to Turkey’s former interior minister and police chief, Mehmet Ağar. The latter has faced accusations regarding his role in state-sponsored murders and narcotics trafficking. This integration of political motives and criminal activities points to a muddled overlap between state actions and street-level crime, particularly amongst Turkish expatriate communities in London.
An investigation once unveiled that Turkish intelligence might have manipulated these gangland disputes to carry out extrajudicial killings on British soil, using the chaos of drug trafficking as a cover for political assassinations. This blurring of lines between criminal enterprise and covert operations has led to numerous unsolved murders, including that of a gang enforcer found in Epping Forest, shot with a silenced weapon.
The Tottenham Turks, among others like the Hackney Bombacilar, are deeply entwined in London’s heroin trade, with violent turf wars over control leading to many fatalities. This dangerous rivalry stretched the influence of figures such as Hüseyin Baybaşin, often described as the “Pablo Escobar of Europe” for his significant role in heroin distribution from Afghanistan since the 1970s.
The current investigation into Eren’s presence in Moldova and the reasons behind his remaining at large prior to his killing continues. With tensions high, concerns over retaliatory attacks in London loom, given past occurrences where gang conflicts have harmed innocent bystanders, including the injuring of a nine-year-old girl in June.
In addition to releasing security camera footage of the suspected killer, Moldovan authorities are appealing to the public for any information that could lead to an arrest, in hopes of deterring further violence. The death of Eren adds another chapter to the bloody history of the Tottenham Turks, which has seen prominent members like Zafer Eren and Koray Alpergin killed under similar mysterious and violent circumstances.