Turkish Gangsters Jailed for Cem Duzgan Murder
Four north London gangsters have been jailed for the murder of an innocent man caught up in bloody turf war.
Cem Duzgan, 21, of Islington, was shot at close range 11 times at the Clapton FC Club, a Turkish social club in Hackney, east London, in October 2009.
The gunman, Blaize Lunkula, 28, was jailed for life and will serve at least 35 years. Three other men - Yusuf Arslan, 24, Ndombasi Makusu, 27, and Christian Barabutu, 22 - were also sentenced at the Old Bailey after being convicted of murder.
Arslan was jailed for 33 years, Makusu was given at least 28 years while Barabutu, 22, who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, was detained for a minimum of 18 years.
Deadly rivalry
The shooting was the culmination of a bloody turf war between the Hackney Turks and the Tottenham Turks.
Tottenham gangster Lunkula executed Duzgan in the pool room, peppering his head and chest with 11 bullets from just 30cm (1ft) away.
Three days earlier, Oktay Erbasli, a member of the Tottenham Turks, had been shot dead as he sat in his car at traffic lights. Prosecutors told the court that Duzgan's death was a revenge killing but that it was a case of mistaken identity.
Timeline - wave of shootings
August 2007 - Yusuf Arslan, then 17, is shot in Tottenham but survives
January 2009 - Kemal Armagan beaten up in a nightclub in Finsbury Park, north London, by Tottenham Turks
22 March, 2009 - Ahmet Paytak shot dead in a shop allegedly run by a Tottenham Turk member
2 October, 2009 - Oktay Erbasli, a Tottenham Turk member, shot and killed while driving a car hired by Kemal Eren
5 October, 2009 - Cem Duzgun, a Hackney Turk member, shot dead
15 August, 2010 - Attempt on life of Kenan Aydogdu
1 February, 2012 - Ali Armagan shot dead in Haringey, north London
1 December, 2012 - Kemal Eren shot and seriously injured in Elbistan, Turkey
18 April, 2013 - Zafer Eren shot dead in Enfield, north London.
Origins - neglected children
According to reports, members of the Tottenham Turks and Hackney Turks are Kurdish or Alevis, a distinct religious group.
The head of the Alevi Cultural Centre in Dalston, east London, Israfil Erbil, told the BBC: "Turkish people who immigrated into the UK in the 1980s have neglected their children while they were struggling to survive in this new country. This neglect created a lack of identity within the second generation."
The sense of belonging to a gang is thought to have filled that void and starting in 2007 the gangs' violence escalated.
David Lammy, Labour MP for Tottenham, has called for an end to the fighting.
"A handful of thugs are being allowed to damage the name of London's Turkish speaking community," he said.
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