A Honey Trap for Abdullah Öcalan

Many courses of action are considered for anyone who becomes the target of a state or a secret service. Before engaging in open war or carrying out any attack, “persuading” the enemy is, by the operating logic of secret services, among the most harmless methods.

People chosen as targets are generally considered safe from traps in their own countries. Being with one’s family, living in familiar surroundings and not stepping outside one’s daily routine create an automatic control mechanism around the person. That is why in honey trap operations it is very important to remove the target from his surroundings, that is, to isolate him.

Countries take certain measures to protect their critical personnel from honey traps. The British distribute briefing notes on possible risks to everyone from businessmen to the head of state, while the Americans try to check their personnel with lie detectors and psychological tests. According to the research of two journalists, Daniel Raviv and Yossi Melman, Israel goes a little further in its honey trap precautions and selects personnel to be posted to missions abroad from young married couples with children. Especially when selecting male personnel posted to the Soviet Union, single men were not preferred. Because there was a risk of these personnel being seduced and blackmailed by Soviet (Russian) intelligence.

According to Gordon Thomas, the operation planned to capture Abdullah Öcalan was also based on the step of “isolating the target”. Öcalan, whom the Turkish Government was making intense efforts to capture, surfaced in Rome in November 1998. Italy, which rejected Öcalan’s asylum request, also refused to hand him over to Turkey. At this point Prime Minister Ecevit, considering every method to capture the terrorist leader, called Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and asked for help in capturing Öcalan. Netanyahu responded positively and MOSSAD stepped in.

In the operation code-named “Awake”, six agents were sent to Rome. One of the MOSSAD agents who placed Öcalan’s flat under observation was a woman, and her orders were clear. To seduce the target and isolate him.

According to MOSSAD psychologists, Öcalan was under great stress and felt lonely. Sooner or later he would surely need the friendship and intimacy of a woman he could trust. While all the military and technical details for capturing the target were being reviewed, why not consider a less costly option such as a honey trap operation? A kidnapping plan involving minimum risk and danger at the target’s most vulnerable moment was of course also among the options.

First, the plan was to cut Öcalan off from those around him, his bodyguards, journalists, secret services. Isolating the target was the operation’s first condition. In this way every element that might wake, warn and protect him would be put out of action. A target who meets an attractive woman will surely one day want to be alone with her. There is no other way to separate the target from his safe environment. At first the target himself will not choose to be left unprotected. But meeting a woman will upset his balance, and in time he will want to leave the protective circle of his own accord. According to MOSSAD, it would once again be a woman who would open this lock.

Operation “Awake” began in Rome. All of Öcalan’s movements were monitored and an opportunity was sought for him to meet the “female friend”. After the first contact with the target, they would act according to developments. The aim was to capture Öcalan without attracting attention and hand him over to Turkish intelligence. But something unexpected happened. Öcalan suddenly had to leave Italy, and an operation that would have gone down in history was shelved.

Today, although the people and stories differ, the methods in honey traps resemble one another. What is generally found is that whoever is left alone is an easier target. And that whoever gets caught is always left alone. If a person has a weak spot (womanising, theft, corruption, a bad habit), it is always recorded by someone. If he has none, he will be isolated and made vulnerable to slander, gossip and accusation. Today’s close friend can become tomorrow’s enemy who must be destroyed. Partnerships, alliances and relationships can break down at any moment. I wonder who has been “persuaded”. Time will surely tell.

And the recorded “lapses” are rarely taken to the grave.