Abdullah Çatlı was born on June 1, 1956, in the small Anatolian town of Nevşehir, Turkey. Raised in a conservative Turkish family, he grew up during a period of political turmoil and deepening ideological divides within Turkey. From an early age, he was exposed to the ideas of Turkish ultranationalism and eventually aligned himself with the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). His ideological fervor led him to join the Grey Wolves, the MHP's paramilitary youth wing, and by the 1970s he had risen to a position of leadership within the organization.

Çatlı first gained national attention in 1977 when he shot at a police officer during a clash with leftist activists. This incident marked the beginning of a criminal and political career that blurred the line between patriotic militancy and underworld violence. Throughout his life, Çatlı would operate at the intersection of organized crime, nationalist ideology, and clandestine state operations.

During the Cold War, his activities attracted the attention of Turkish intelligence (MIT), who reportedly viewed him as a useful asset against leftist groups and foreign enemies. Over time, Çatlı developed strong relationships with state actors, intelligence officials, and military-linked operatives. His connections allowed him to travel under aliases, carry diplomatic passports, and operate internationally with near impunity.

In 1982, he was arrested in Switzerland for heroin trafficking but managed to escape detention. He resurfaced in France, where he used the name Hasan Kurtoğlu. There, with reported assistance from Turkish intelligence, he organized violent attacks against Armenian targets abroad, particularly those affiliated with the Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA). These attacks included a bombing at the Armenian Genocide Memorial in Alfortville, France in 1984 and an attempted assassination of activist Ara Toranian.

Despite multiple international warrants, Çatlı remained active across Europe under false identities. In 1984, he was arrested again in Paris for drug trafficking and served time until 1988. He was then extradited to Switzerland, where he escaped prison once more in March 1990. After returning to Turkey, he avoided public view but was widely believed to be involved in covert operations for the state.

Çatlı’s most infamous early crime was his suspected involvement in the Bahçelievler Massacre on October 9, 1978, in which seven leftist university students were brutally executed in Ankara. This attack, carried out by members of the Grey Wolves including Haluk Kırcı, was one of the bloodiest incidents in a politically polarized Turkey. Çatlı was named as one of the orchestrators.

He was also alleged to have helped in the assassination of journalist Abdi İpekçi on February 1, 1979, alongside Mehmet Ali Ağca, who would later attempt to assassinate Pope John Paul II in 1981. Investigative reports and intelligence leaks suggested that Çatlı played a key role in Ağca's escape from prison, and possibly had indirect involvement in the Vatican attack itself.

By the mid-1980s, Çatlı was no longer just a nationalist militant; he had become an international hitman. Operating under false identities and using funds allegedly obtained through drug trafficking and smuggling, he carried out violent attacks targeting ASALA members across Europe. Many of these operations, such as the Alfortville bombing, were coordinated with or at least tolerated by Turkish intelligence services.

Following his return to Turkey in the 1990s, Çatlı reportedly worked with state security units in extrajudicial campaigns against perceived enemies of the state, especially the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) and suspected sympathizers. Turkish Prime Minister Tansu Çiller’s 1993 speech referencing a “list” of businessmen and public figures connected to terrorism set off a wave of disappearances and assassinations. Çatlı, according to multiple investigative sources, was at the center of these covert actions.

One of his most high-profile alleged victims was Behçet Cantürk, a Kurdish businessman who was kidnapped and murdered in January 1994 after reportedly paying Çatlı a bribe in hopes of being removed from Çiller’s hit list. A similar fate befell Ömer Lütfü Topal, known as Turkey’s “casino king,” who was reportedly killed after making a large payoff.

In 1995, Çatlı’s group was also implicated in the assassination of Iranian agents Lazım Esmaeili and Askar Simitko, believed to be part of a covert operation between MIT and Çatlı’s network to counter Iranian influence in Turkey. His fingerprint was allegedly found on a machine gun used in Topal’s assassination, strengthening links between Çatlı and the so-called “deep state.”

In 1996, Çatlı and his associates kidnapped television mogul Mehmet Ali Yaprak, extorting millions in ransom. That same year, as Çatlı traveled with senior police officials and politicians, his vehicle crashed in Susurluk, a small town in Balıkesir Province. The crash exposed the true extent of collusion between Turkish law enforcement, mafia figures, and paramilitary forces.

Found dead in the wreckage on November 3, 1996, Çatlı was carrying six separate identification documents, including a diplomatic passport under the alias Mehmet Özbay. Also killed were police official Hüseyin Kocadağ and Çatlı’s girlfriend Gonca Us, while politician Sedat Bucak, a Kurdish militia leader and Member of Parliament, survived the crash. The car crash ignited the Susurluk scandal, prompting national outrage and a parliamentary investigation into the "deep state."

After his death, connections between Çatlı and government officials became undeniable. Interior Minister Mehmet Ağar was forced to resign after it was discovered that he had stayed in the same hotel as Çatlı days before the crash and had authorized Çatlı’s gun permits. Former Deputy Prime Minister Alparslan Türkeş, founder of the Grey Wolves, admitted posthumously that Çatlı had worked with the state "for the good of the nation."

Çatlı’s funeral became a spectacle of far-right loyalty. Notable figures like Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu of the Great Union Party attended, and Mehmet Ali Ağca, then imprisoned in Rome, sent flowers. Every year, his supporters, particularly among the Grey Wolves, hold ceremonies at his gravesite to honor him as a "martyr of the nation."