Journalist İsmail Saymaz opens the Sinan Ateş file: 'The ground should shake'

Following the completion of the indictment in the Sinan Ateş murder case, the emergence of footage showing the vehicle used to spirit away the gunman, along with statements from fugitive Serdar Sertçelik—who is being tried on allegations of being the number two in the organization involved in the Ayhan Bora Kaplan case—have dominated the agenda. Journalist İsmail Saymaz has opened the Sinan Ateş file. Stating, "There is political interference in the case. They waited for the general and local elections to end. They wanted to avoid angering the MHP," Saymaz revealed the details for the first time.

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Journalist İsmail Saymaz opens the Sinan Ateş file: 'The ground should shake'

The indictment prepared as part of the investigation into the murder of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Ateş, former President of the Ülkü Ocakları Education and Culture Foundation and a faculty member at Hacettepe University, has sparked controversy.

The indictment prepared for 22 suspects in the investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has been accepted by the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court.

However, both Ateş's family and various politicians, legal experts, and journalists have argued that the indictment is extremely incomplete.

Journalist İsmail Saymaz made the following highly discussed remarks on SZC TV:

"There is political interference in the case. They waited for the general and local elections to end. They wanted to avoid angering the MHP. In this investigation, they almost didn't even write Sinan Ateş's name. It was only written that he was an academic in the history department at Hacettepe University. The fact that he was the former President of the Ülkü Ocakları is only mentioned in the statements of some suspects.

'THE MOTIVE FOR THE MURDER IS NOT WRITTEN'

In this file, the prosecutor's office waited until the moment evidence would be destroyed. The motive for the Sinan Ateş murder is not written in the 145-page indictment. Political connections and evidence have been obscured. According to this prosecutor, there isn't even an organization. The truly critical connections have been covered up in the indictment. It is impossible for a fair decision to come out of this."

Continuing his remarks, Saymaz stated, "The perpetrators mentioned in the Sinan Ateş murder either did not use phones, changed their phones, or deleted the messages on their phones."

WHO IS SİNAN ATEŞ?

Sinan Ateş (January 1, 1984, Dursunbey, Balıkesir - December 30, 2022, Ankara) was a Turkish historian, academic, and politician. He worked as a lecturer at Hacettepe University and served as the president of the Ülkü Ocakları between 2019 and 2020. He was killed as a result of an armed attack in Ankara on December 30, 2022.

His death was closely linked to the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Ülkü Ocakları.

Among those arrested or detained were a Nationalist Movement Party provincial executive, a former Ülkü Ocakları executive, and two police officers.

SİNAN ATEŞ MURDER

On December 30, 2022, former Ülkü Ocakları President and academic Sinan Ateş was subjected to an armed attack by Eray Özyağcı, who had been hiding behind a vehicle on 1456th Street in the Kızılırmak neighborhood of Çankaya, while he was with his relative Selman Bozkurt.

One bullet fired by Özyağcı hit Bozkurt, and five bullets hit Ateş. Bozkurt was wounded in the shoulder, while Ateş was critically injured and died at the hospital to which he was taken.

According to the autopsy report, of the five bullets that hit Ateş; one entered through his chin and exited the top of his head, one entered through the left side of his abdomen and exited his back, and while an exit point was found for a bullet that entered through the groin area of his left leg, no exit point was found for another bullet that entered through the same spot, nor for a bullet that entered through his right groin.

The attack was referred to in the press as the "Sinan Ateş murder," "Sinan Ateş assassination," or "Çukurambar murder," and Ateş was declared a martyr by some individuals. Ateş is the second Ülkü Ocakları president to be shot and the first to die as a result of being shot.

News Source: 12punto