Hablemitoğlu assassination trial… 'It will end, God willing'!..

The trial regarding the assassination of academic and author Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu, which has spanned approximately 4 years including the investigation process, continued. Although the court requested at the January 2 hearing that the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office “urgently” identify the suspicious individuals believed to have followed Hablemitoğlu during his conference in Eskişehir and during his shopping at Migros on the day he was killed, the Prosecutor's Office reported that the investigation is ongoing and requested more time.

In addition to the fact that a new investigation has been opened regarding the suspects in question, the court decided at today's hearing to bring in the case file concerning two engineers at the General Directorate of Security Intelligence Department, who are alleged to have leaked data regarding Hablemitoğlu just before the July 15 coup attempt. However, despite all this, it was decided that the detention of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, the only detained defendant in the case, would continue, and that the judicial control measure of a travel ban for the other defendants would remain in effect. Meanwhile, it was noted that when a defendant asked, “How much longer will this case continue?”, the Presiding Judge replied, “It will end, God willing.”

In today's session of the case heard at the Ankara 28th High Criminal Court, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır and Enver Altaylı, who is convicted in another case, connected via SEGBİS from Sincan Prison, while the non-detained defendants Levent Göktaş, Tarkan Mumcuoğlu, Fikret Emek, Mehmet Narin, and Aydın Köstem were present in the courtroom.

At the beginning of the hearing, the Presiding Judge stated that no information had yet been received from the Prosecutor's Office regarding the investigation into the identification of the individuals thought to have followed Hablemitoğlu at the conference in Eskişehir and at Migros, and then took the requests of the defendants and their lawyers.

Prosecutor, Abdurrahman Şimşek and Zihni Çakır Accused

Retired Colonel Levent Göktaş, one of the defendants, requested that the judicial control measure be eased, while Aydın Köstem said, “I have had an ankle monitor on for 1 year. I am very aggrieved.”

Defendant Fikret Emek also asked how much longer this case would continue. The Presiding Judge replied, “It will end, God willing.”

Mehmet Eren Turan, the lawyer for Tarkan Mumcuoğlu, who is alleged to be the “hitman”, said the following in summary:

“It is understood that we have to wait for the result of the new investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. It is not very exciting for us. The Eskişehir and Migros camera recordings were actually in the file, and the Prosecutor's Office was aware of this. If it had detected a connection with the defendants, it would have included them in the file during the preparatory stage. But not only did it not put any evidence in favor of the defendants into the file, it went in search of evidence against them. It would have included the international call transfer records expected from the TRNC for years in the file, even if they were against the defendants. If H.Ş., who was heard as a witness, had not shown the photos shown to him by the police here, these images would never have emerged. Why was the investigation of those images left until today? What needed to be done was to identify these people in the images and reveal who they were in contact with. We collected in 15 days the evidence that the prosecutors could not collect in 20 years. But the judicial control of the defendants still continues. We don't know what we are waiting for and for how long.”

Mumcuoğlu's other lawyer, Enes Taner, also criticized the fact that the defendants were subjected to judicial control when they should have been acquitted immediately.

Levent Göktaş's lawyer, Ali Soykan, stated that it had emerged that journalist Abdurrahman Şimşek, who was heard as a witness, had given false testimony, that they had filed a criminal complaint, but that the prosecutor's office had issued a decision of non-prosecution without conducting any investigation. After requesting that the Court file a criminal complaint against Şimşek, he brought up the allegation that data regarding Hablemitoğlu at the General Directorate of Security Intelligence Department had been stolen and spoke as follows:

“Yes, there is a FETÖ finger in the file. The previous prosecutors who looked at the Hablemitoğlu file turned to the police in the investigation. However, in this latest investigation, while the statements of all the waiters in the restaurant where Nuri Gökhan Bozkır ate were taken, not a single police officer's statement was taken. The digital evidence in the file disappeared. The indictment and trial prosecutor took some evidence from the judicial repository, broke their seals, and examined them. Even sports commentator Ahmet Çakar, who has nothing to do with this, says, ‘The one who killed Hablemitoğlu is Levent Göktaş.’ The reason for this is that the indictment is very bad.”

Defendant Mehmet Narin's lawyer, Hülya Elmadağ, also asked the Court to file a criminal complaint against Abdurrahman Şimşek, while Aydın Köstem's lawyer, Emre Tekin, requested that the case file heard at the Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court regarding Hamdi Özdere and Haşim Türker, whose names were mentioned in the allegation of data theft from the Intelligence Department, be brought in.

Nuri Gökhan Bozkır's lawyer, Hacer Ural, noted the following:

“The fact that the letter requested from the TRNC has not arrived is thought-provoking. I believe it was not brought on purpose. One could have walked there, picked it up, and brought it. Abdurrahman Şimşek's statements are not limited to perjury; there is also an attempt to influence a fair trial. The court should file a criminal complaint. Even if they put such a title in front of their names, I will not call Şimşek and Zihni Çakır journalists. People who never left Zekeriya Öz's office and manipulated files in operational cases have now manipulated this file as well. Everything has been done to dilute the file. They caused the file to reach this state by working with the prosecution. Actually, the murder has been solved; we are playing extras here. Even if we assume that the defendants committed this crime, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır has finished the time he would serve for the maximum sentence he would receive. If you say ‘there is a possibility of flight’ in the decisions to continue his detention, that's fine, but it says ‘strong suspicion of crime.’ What is the justification for this? It has emerged that he has no connection to this murder.”

Enver Altaylı's lawyer, Dilara Yılmaz, also reminded that a decision had been made to evaluate the request for a criminal complaint against Abdurrahman Şimşek together with the verdict, and said, “This is not a matter to be waited for until the verdict.”

Following the requests, Prosecutor Zafer Ergün, whose opinion was taken, stated that the investigation procedures regarding the identification of the individuals in the Eskişehir and Migros images were ongoing and requested time for them to be completed, while requesting that the requests for hearing witnesses and bringing the case file regarding the Intelligence Department be rejected, and that the detention of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır and the judicial control measures of the other defendants be continued.

Bozkır: “The Case Has Become a Tool of Revenge”

When asked what he had to say against the opinion, detained defendant Nuri Gökhan Bozkır reminded that his release had been decided before and said, “What has changed against me since then? On the contrary, even though evidence in my favor has arrived, a decision is made to continue my detention. Why am I still in detention even though so many witnesses have been heard and it has emerged that I have no connection to the murder? I have served the time for the requested sentence; it has been 4.5 years. The case has become a tool of revenge.”

Lawyer Mehmet Eren Turan pointed out that there is a contradiction between waiting for the result of the ongoing investigation and requesting the continuation of the judicial control measure, while Lawyer Ali Soykan emphasized that there is concrete data in the Intelligence Department file.

Altaylı: “Hablemitoğlu Was Misled Regarding German Foundations”

Defendant Enver Altaylı made the following assessment:

“The late Necip Hablemitoğlu claims in his book about German foundations that the Alperen Hearths founded by the late Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and the Milli Görüş organization founded by the late Erbakan were under the control of German intelligence. These claims are not scientific; they are of an intelligence nature. The leaders of the Milli Görüş organization were made members of parliament by Erbakan and Erdoğan. This means that Necip Hablemitoğlu's information is not correct. I wonder who gave that information? Who were the people who came to watch his conference in Eskişehir, and did they have any connection with those who gave that information? If these are investigated, it will emerge who misled Hablemitoğlu. I think this; they used Hablemitoğlu, he realized he was being used, and they fell into a dispute. Those who came to the Eskişehir conference are important. The MIT (National Intelligence Organization) has a lot of information; it is not possible for it not to have. In fact, Mehmet Eymür had also said that some people in the organization had information. Therefore, it is important to hear the MIT Undersecretary of the period.”

Hacer Ural, one of Bozkır's lawyers, said, “The torture Bozkır suffered went unpunished. What procedure in this file is in accordance with the law? It is a contradiction that he is in detention while a new investigation is opened,” while Lawyer Emrah Yücel accused Abdurrahman Şimşek, Zihni Çakır, and the Prosecutor as follows:

“Abdurrahman Şimşek and Zihni Çakır violated all kinds of confidentiality and made manipulative guidance. An attempt was made to create a file through Nuri Gökhan Bozkır. Some promises were made for this, and when they were not fulfilled, he was threatened. The person responsible for Bozkır's arrest in the onion truck case is sitting in the prosecutor's office.”

After the break, the Presiding Judge announced that it was decided to continue the detention of Nuri Gökhan Bozkır and the judicial control application for the other defendants, while rejecting the requests to hear the MIT Undersecretary of the period and other witnesses, and that it was decided to bring in the case file regarding the Intelligence Department.

The next session of the hearing was adjourned to June 27.

Müyesser YILDIZ

April 21, 2025