Bora Kaplan trial: 'Heroes are being tried here'

In today's session of the Bora Kaplan criminal organization trial, held at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court with 61 defendants, 18 of whom are in custody, the defense statements and requests from the defendants and their lawyers continued.

Uğur Ulutaş, the lawyer for Fethi Koyuncu, one of the defendants alleged to be an organization leader, drew attention to the illegalities during the investigation process and said, "We are trying to prove and defend against something that does not exist."

Emphasizing that the illegalities in this file have become established facts through the case opened against the police officers who conducted the investigation, Atty. Ulutaş noted that the accusations directed at Fethi Koyuncu were not even present in the secret witness statements and could not even be forced into those statements.

As the hearing continued, witnesses prepared by the lawyers of defendant Barış Kurt, a former AKP Ankara Provincial Vice President, were heard. Sultan Seyhan, an AKP Samsun parliamentary candidate who claims to have seen the complainant Erkan Doğan—who alleges he was kidnapped and had his teeth pulled out with pliers at Akman Plaza—at Akman Plaza on the night of the incident, explained the following:

Erkan Doğan was a substance addict

“I served as a director at the Samsun Mental Health Hospital for many years, and later I moved to the Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports. I also saw Erkan Doğan in Samsun, at matches and at the Sports Directorate's Private Office. When it was stated that he was an employee from an orphanage and I was asked to help him at the Private Office, I called the Chief Physician of the Numune Hospital, but he did not go. On the day of the incident, I was a guest at a friend's office in the building next to Taurus. I don't remember which floor it was. I was an AK Party Samsun parliamentary candidate. There was another candidate for İzmir. While they were in a meeting, we heard some noises. At first, we didn't pay attention, then we looked. The incident was in its final stages. There were 2 police officers. They were pulling Erkan Doğan, and he was shouting, 'Leave me alone.' He looked uneasy.”

Witness Sultan Seyhan also said the following upon questions from lawyers and defendants:

“I don't know if the police were trying to put him in the elevator or take him downstairs; but he was shouting. When he saw me, he said, 'Mr. President,' and I replied, 'Yes,' but then I went inside, saying there were police officers there. There was no blood or anything on his face as if his teeth had been pulled out. I had called the Numune Chief Physician for his treatment because Erkan Doğan was a substance addict.”

When asked, “What was his behavior like at that time?” Sultan Seyhan replied:

“I am not a doctor, but because I worked at the Mental Health Center, I understood; Erkan Doğan already had an appearance that made it clear to anyone looking that he was a substance addict. That was Erkan.”

Atty. Nazmi Kobal asked, “Are you this bureaucrat?” after mentioning that Erkan Doğan had stated in his testimony at the hearing that a bureaucrat had also witnessed the incident. Witness Sultan Seyhan said, “It could be. You can ask Erkan, 'Did you see President Sultan?' Since he wouldn't lie…”

Upon the request of the lawyers, Sultan Seyhan agreed to have the HTS records from that period brought into the file. 

After Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Kocaoğlu, one of Barış Kurt's lawyers, said, “We have revealed that Erkan Doğan is a slanderer,” he reacted to the fact that the prosecutor and the panel did not ask the witness any questions. The Presiding Judge, who had Kocaoğlu's microphone turned off, warned him, “You cannot make comments. Let us do the judging.”

Sinan Yakut, an expert who prepared an expert report on HTS records, was heard as Barış Kurt's second witness. To Yakut, who explained the contradictions in the report submitted by the expert appointed by the court, Bora Kaplan said, “They are not making mistakes, they are doing it deliberately.”

The afternoon session of the hearing began with the defense of Nazmi Kobal, one of Barış Kurt's lawyers. Presenting a wet-signed document dated 2011 to the court, in which Erkan Doğan stated, “I have no rights or receivables from this company,” in response to the complainant Erkan Doğan's claim that he could not collect his debts from Barış Kurt, Atty. Kobal described Erkan Doğan as a “lying machine.”

Ibrahim Kama, the lawyer for defendant Tansel Aktan, stated that the indictment was prepared with unlawful evidence and said, “In other words, the fish rots from the head.”

Ela Leyla Umur, the lawyer for Mahmut Gökhan Çanga—who is accused of later killing Semih Arslan, the perpetrator of the Mahfuz Tatar murder, by throwing him from a height under the organization's instructions—stated that a decision of non-prosecution (KYOK) was given regarding this death in 2016 and that his family did not object to it. She said that 7 years later, the prosecutor brought three people together and pressured the experts to try to label the incident a “murder,” and that this was revealed in the WhatsApp correspondence between the prosecutor and the KOM commissioner.

Doesn't someone who fears God commit suicide?

Arguing that Semih Arslan, whose mental health had deteriorated due to the Mahfuz Tatar murder, committed suicide according to the crime scene investigation and forensic reports prepared at the time of the incident, Atty. Umur continued as follows:

“This person did not get married two days ago, nor did he achieve a success, so that one could say, 'He wouldn't commit suicide.' His family said, 'He feared God, he wouldn't commit suicide.' Did he not fear God when he killed someone with 14 bullets? He had a scorpion tattoo on his arm. Isn't a tattoo a sin according to our religion?”

At the end of her statement, Atty. Umur submitted the report they received from the Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty Department of Forensic Medicine, which states that Semih Arslan committed suicide.

The answer to the questions is in July 15

Sidar Yurtçiçek, the lawyer for Deniz Urcan, who is accused of being the instigator of the Semih Arslan murder, criticized the prosecutor and police officers who conducted the investigation as well as the Presiding Judge with harsh expressions, and said for the defendants, “Heroes are being tried here.” Atty. Yurtçiçek summarized the following:

“There is a setup here. What is happening is not normal. There is no such operation. I am calling out to the Minister of Justice Yılmaz Tunç from here. Very major irregularities are being committed in this file. This case could lead to the trial of all state officials one day. This file was the beginning of a major event. An inspector should be assigned for this file. Those who carried out this operation are part of a clique. They have become blinded. What is their motivation; we must find it. For this, we must go to July 15. The answer to these questions is in July 15. You asked Bora Kaplan where he got the weapons. What would you have said if he had said, 'I got them from the MIT, from the Police'? Heroes are being tried here.”

“KOM Branch Deputy Director Şevket Demircan is meeting with the secret witness on your behalf and explaining the sentences you will give, and reporting that you approved the mention of the name Bekir Bozdağ. I ask, have you filed a criminal complaint against Şevket Demircan? Again, Şevket Demircan, in his statement, lists you among his ranking superiors and says, 'I did everything on the orders of my ranking superiors.' Is it possible for a police chief not to know that a presiding judge cannot be his ranking superior?”

“Mr. President, is Şevket Demircan threatening you? We need to know the answer to this. Let me say it, he is threatening both you and Murat Çelik. Yes, did Şevket Demircan act on your instructions, and if so, why? We have no faith left in your justice. You should withdraw of your own volition. This is a heavy burden.”

After the statements of two more defense lawyers following Atty. Sidar Yurtçiçek, today's session was concluded to be continued tomorrow.