Security Architecture and the Public Authority Gap in Turkey: An Assessment Based on the Cases of Atlas Çağlayan, Ahmet Minguzzi, and Gazi Ferdi Çatal

“If you want to know a country, look at how people die there.” Albert Camus

Introduction: Fragmented Security, Weakening Public Authority

Public service is public trust.

A high level of trust between citizens and the state illuminates the future.

In efforts to restructure the state around the world, it has been concluded that failure in public administration leads to four fundamental gaps: strategic gap, budget gap, performance gap, and trust gap.

The narrowness of the strategic perspective that dominates decision-making processes and the lack of a long-term vision lead to the inefficient use of public resources and structural inefficiencies. In parallel, management practices that fail to accurately read the concrete expectations and needs of citizens at the implementation level and that are out of touch with the field produce a serious performance gap. This simultaneous weakness in strategic inadequacy and implementation capacity inevitably deepens budget deficits; when combined with management failures, corruption and allegations of malpractice, this triple deficit (efficiency, performance and budget) turns into a structural crisis of confidence that erodes public trust in the government.

This trust gap between the state and its citizens manifests itself not only in the economic sphere but also, in an equally pronounced and vital manner, in the security sphere. Whenever citizens' expectations regarding their life and property security are not met, and public authorities fail to demonstrate a consistent and predictable response, the perception of security weakens; this weakening becomes an area of risk that directly affects the legitimacy of the state and social cohesion.

Turkey has been faced with the need to redefine its security policies in recent years. The issue of security is no longer limited to specific threats; it has become an issue directly linked to the protection of the public sphere, the sustainability of social order, and the health of the state-citizen relationship.

As the President of the Western Black Sea Equal Opportunities Association, I must state that observations in the field clearly show that security has not been established in a comprehensive, equal and sustainable manner throughout Turkey. The weakening of public authority in certain areas has led to the resulting vacuum being filled not by the principles of the rule of law, but by de facto power relations, informal structures, and practices that lack deterrence. This picture is not limited to individual provinces or isolated cases; on the contrary, it points to the existence of a structural and deep-rooted security problem that has spread to almost the entire country.

Particularly in large metropolitan areas, atomised citizens who exist as individuals and live in accordance with the law, lacking tribal, clan or similar closed solidarity networks, and who come from different geographical regions such as Central Anatolia, Western Anatolia, Southern Anatolia and Thrace, especially the Western Black Sea region, need the protective and egalitarian reflexes of the state more than ever. The weakening of the state's security and protection capacity for these segments not only increases individual insecurity but also undermines the sense of social justice, making the state-citizen relationship fragile. Therefore, the issue of security must be addressed as a national public policy based on the equal protection of all citizens, not just certain groups or regions.

Violence in Public Spaces and Youth Gang Formation

The murders of Atlas ÇAĞLAYAN and Ahmet MİNGUZZİ are among the most shocking and tragic social examples of this structural problem. On 24 January 2025, Ahmet MİNGUZZİ was stabbed to death in Kadıköy, and on 14 January 2026, our young man Atlas ÇAĞLAYAN was stabbed to death in Güngören, Istanbul, in the ordinary spaces of daily life, in front of people's eyes, brutally murdered in the prime of their lives.

The common feature of these murders is this: the incidents did not take place in dark back alleys; they occurred in public spaces. The perpetrators are 15 years old. However, the behaviour exhibited by these murderers can be explained not by innocence, such as childhood, but by a new perception of disorder that pushes these young people towards committing murder, such as a culture of encouraged violence, group dominance, and impunity.

This picture shows us much more than individual deviations. A criminal justice system that has lost its deterrent effect, an uncontrolled justice system, unregulated public spaces, and social vacuums that drive young people to crime are ultimately the root causes of these murders. In this context, the phenomenon of violence spreading throughout our society is no longer an exception; it is becoming normalised in the sense that it is encountered everywhere.

Feudal/Tribal Culture Pressure on Metropolises and Kastamonu

In Istanbul, there are several times more Kastamonus than the population of Kastamonu province. Kastamonus, maintaining their strong regional identity, have integrated into metropolitan city culture, demonstrating a social profile that is respectful of the law and rules and trusted in neighbourly relations. Most people from the Western Black Sea cities also share similar characteristics in this regard.

In contrast, some of our citizens who have come to the metropolises from certain regions act on the belief that it is possible and even beneficial to maintain the tribal, clan, and feudal ties of their region of origin in the metropolises and to gain political, economic, and social advantages through this identity.

One of the important factors feeding this tendency is the media.

Today, a large proportion of high-rating television series are built on plots that glorify feudal-based, extended family-centred, mafia-like power relations. These productions present mafia-like relationships, trigger-happy behaviour, illegal gains, ‘rising values’ and ‘shortcuts to success’, especially to young people.

This process isolates citizens who, like Kastamonulular in metropolitan areas, have no basis of belonging other than Turkishness and prefer to exist as individuals; it deepens feelings of powerlessness and insecurity. The real focus of the problem is not cultural differences; it is the lack of trust in the state, public authority, law enforcement and the judiciary.

What citizens expect from the state is: an environment of trust, protection, and the timely and equal establishment of justice. If this expectation comes to be met by mafia leaders, tribal chiefs or local power centres, it is not only painful but also an extremely worrying sign in terms of state capacity.

Where there is no state, there is no order; where there is no order, power speaks, not law. The future of metropolises depends not on feudal ties, but on the rule of law, individual rights and public equality.

The Most Severe Consequence of the Trust Deficit: Gazi Ferdi ÇATAL

The most painful consequence of this breakdown is seen in the case of Gazi Ferdi ÇATAL. Kastamonu-based lawyer Hüseyin ÖZBEK, acting as Gazi's lawyer, has made similar observations on this matter. Ferdi ÇATAL, who lost a leg in the 2017 terrorist attack in Kayseri, is registered in the Daday district of Kastamonu.

The fact that this young man, who sacrificed a limb for his country, was not sufficiently supported financially and emotionally, and was essentially left alone to deal with the trauma he experienced, shows us the extent to which the bond between the state and its citizens has been damaged and how far the breach of trust extends.

Meanwhile, the fact that Ferdi ÇATAL had to turn to a mafia figure rather than the state for his mother's housing needs is a situation that requires serious consideration. This situation must be interpreted not as individual helplessness, but as the tragic result of a vacuum left by public authority.

Reaction Rising from the Western Black Sea to the National Level

These events have found a deep resonance not only among the people of Kastamonu, but also in the collective conscience of citizens living in the Western Black Sea basin, from Zonguldak to Sinop, and from Bartın to Karabük. In fact, the entire country, from West to East, North to South, has condemned and rejected this atrocity, if not with their hands, then with their words, or if neither, then with their hearts.

Regional sensitivity, even if amateurish and belated, has been conveyed to the national public through civil society channels; it has been strongly emphasised that the issue of security must be addressed not only through specific headlines but through the entire public order and across the country, without discrimination.

The sensitivity of the Western Black Sea region is not a regional complaint; it is a constructive contribution to strengthening state capacity.

Conclusion: Security is the Art of Preserving Human Life

The cases of Atlas ÇAĞLAYAN, Ahmet MİNGUZZİ, Gazi Ferdi ÇATAL and Eren BÜLBÜL, along with others I have not mentioned by name, are not isolated tragedies.

These names represent different faces of the same security gaps that emerge in areas where public authority is weak.

Armed struggle against crime is necessary for security, but it is not sufficient. Security is the protection of the public sphere, the survival of young people, the honourable life of veterans, the absence of fear for citizens as long as they live according to the rules of the state, and the people not distancing themselves from the state.

Where there is security, there is no security gap.

The state's presence, felt in an egalitarian and just manner, solves most problems. Otherwise, a cold void emerges.

If the void is not filled by law, it will be filled by force.

What Turkey needs is a state mindset that approaches security holistically rather than piecemeal, preventively rather than reactively, and equally rather than selectively.

For honourable citizens.

For true democracy.

For the century of Turkey.

Let the people live so that the state may live.