The Turkish mafia’s sudden rehabilitation in public life has taken a hold on the popular imagination. Accused of 41 political murders, and jailed for ordering a hit on his ex-wife, who was shot dead in front of their young son, he was nonetheless freed from prison along with dozens of other mafia heavyweights in a coronavirus amnesty last year that notably ignored political prisoners. The man on the right, Alaattin Çakıcı, is the most notorious mobster in Turkey.