Organised crime in the capital rarely stays quiet for long, but the brutal underworld conflict between north London factions has reached a chilling milestone. When a senior member of the Hackney Turks was handed a life sentence following a botched extortion plot and a restaurant shooting, it highlighted a violent reality operating in plain sight across British streets.
If you think modern gang violence is limited to online scams or low-level drug dealing, the reality in places like Dalston tells a much darker story. Turf wars driven by extortion, intimidation, and cross-community vendettas are tearing families apart and leaving innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire.
The Anatomy of a £100,000 Extortion Plot
The case centers around Beytullah Gunduz, a 40-year-old high-ranking figure within the Hackney Turks organised crime group. Gunduz orchestrated a terrifying revenge and extortion scheme targeting Onur Guzel, the co-owner of the Umut 2000 restaurant in Dalston, east London.
The motive was simple, brutal greed mixed with gang paranoia. Gunduz accused Guzel's family of financially supporting a rival faction—the Tottenham Turks—to the tune of £100,000. Under this pretext, Gunduz demanded an identical payment from the restaurant owners.
When the family refused to bow to the extortion, the threats escalated instantly. Owners of local independent businesses are frequently treated as cash cows or collateral by career criminals who operate with absolute impunity. Guzel's family made it clear they wouldn't pay a penny to criminals. That defiance nearly cost Guzel his life.
Bullets Outside the Family Restaurant
On June 20, 2024, Guzel was on a break from work, chatting on his phone outside the family establishment. A white Kia Niro pulled up. A gunman fired through the window, striking Guzel in the stomach.
CCTV footage captured the chaotic aftermath and the victim's frantic screams for help. While Guzel survived the targeted attack, he suffered catastrophic injuries and now lives with a permanent stoma bag. The actual gunman managed to flee the country, escaping to Istanbul after the getaway car was torched, but the Metropolitan Police's dedicated units hunted down the orchestrator.
Gunduz tried to dodge justice by refusing to attend court for his sentencing. It didn't work. A judge handed him a life sentence with a minimum term of 20 years behind bars.
Two Decades of Tit-for-Tat Bloodshed
This incident isn't an isolated flare-up. It is just one chapter in a twenty-year war between the Hackney Turks (sometimes called the Bombacilar) and the Tottenham Turks. Police intelligence links these two warring factions to more than twenty murders across London and overseas.
The feud has a history of terrifying collateral damage. In a separate incident linked to the same turf war, a nine-year-old girl eating ice cream with her family was struck in the head by a stray bullet. That attack, carried out by hired thugs linked to the conflict, left the young girl with permanent cognitive and physical injuries after a bullet lodged in her brain.
When criminal cartels wage war across urban postcodes, ordinary citizens and local business owners pay the highest price. Metropolitan Police detectives have spent years untangling burner phone data, forensic evidence, and encrypted communications to dismantle these networks, but the underlying underground economy remains stubborn.
Organised crime thrives when victims stay silent out of fear. But as recent convictions at the Old Bailey prove, law enforcement agencies are finally cracking down on the hierarchy behind the triggers, ensuring that orchestrators like Gunduz spend decades facing the consequences of their choices.
Inside Hackney's Deadly Gang Wars
This video provides an investigative look into the violent territorial disputes and criminal networks operating within east London.
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