 TİT claimed responsibility for an armed attack in 1998 on the then Turkish Human Rights Association president, Akın Birdal, in which he was critically wounded.The perpetrator was the TİT's leader, Mehmet Cemal Kulaksızoğlu received a diplomatic passport by rogue National Intelligence Organization officer, Yavuz Ataç.That time Mehmet Cemal Kulaksızoglu never serve with Ataç but they were close friends.