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Ayşe Ateş announces: Decision of non-prosecution in Sinan Ateş investigation

Ayşe Ateş, the wife of Sinan Ateş, who lost his life as a result of gunfire from two hitmen on December 30, 2022, announced that the second investigation launched into the murder has been closed with a decision of non-prosecution for all suspects.

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Sinan Ateş's wife, Ayşe Ateş, announced that a decision of non-prosecution has been issued in the second investigation opened regarding her husband's assassination, and reiterated her demand for justice. Emphasizing that she and her two daughters have no security of life, Ayşe Ateş stated that the decision of non-prosecution would 'embolden the killers.' In a post she shared on social media, Ateş stated that the AKP did not want to anger the MHP throughout the general and local election processes, and that this was the reason her husband's murder was not clarified.

Previously, Ayşe Ateş and Sinan Ateş's sister, Selma Ateş, had been attacked by unidentified individuals and had held the MHP and the Ülkü Ocakları (Grey Wolves) responsible for the attacks in their statements to the press.

Sinan Ateş's mother, Saniye Ateş, had previously demanded justice regarding the decision of non-prosecution issued for some detainees, saying, 'My son's killers are out there. They did this for money.'

Saniye Ateş stated that those who instigated the murder were 'high-level figures,' saying, 'We want İzzet Ulvi Yönter, Semih Yalçın, Olcay Kılavuz, and Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım to be included in the case.'

Sinan Ateş

ALLEGATIONS OF POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN THE SINAN ATEŞ CASE

The Sinan Ateş case had come to the agenda with discussions of political interference in the media. Ateş's family also claimed throughout the trial process that the MHP was interfering with the judiciary and called for impartiality and justice.

Announcing the decision of non-prosecution on her social media account, Ayşe Ateş emphasized that as a result of the decision, it could not be revealed who instigated the murder and why they targeted Sinan Ateş.

Journalist İsmail Saymaz also alleged that there was political interference in the Sinan Ateş case and noted the following:

'There is political interference over the case. The end of the general and local elections was awaited. They did not want to anger 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 Chairman of the Ülkü Ocakları is only mentioned in the statements of some suspects.'

Publishing a statement via her X social media account, Ayşe Ateş included the following expressions in the post where she announced the decision of non-prosecution:

''Announced to the public:

According to the judicial decision that reached me just now, a decision of non-prosecution has been issued for all suspects in the second investigation file for which we were expecting an indictment to be prepared.

With this decision, questions such as why Sinan Ateş was murdered and who gave the order for his murder have remained unanswered.

While normal lives are gifted to the blood-handed instigators, living under a lifelong death threat was deemed appropriate for me and my two daughters.

I want to address our President, Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, from here:

Mr. President, the two close armed bodyguards you assigned to me no longer have any meaning. What won't those who had Sinan Ateş murdered one kilometer away from your office do to Ayşe Ateş and her two daughters with the courage they have received from this point on? Even if you gave us an army, not just two bodyguards, you could not stop them.

My daughters and I take refuge first in Almighty Allah, and then in the conscience, compassion, and kindness of our noble nation.''

THE SINAN ATEŞ CASE

The Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court had sentenced the hitman Eray Özyağci, the driver of the motorcycle used in the incident, Vedat Balkaya, and Suat Kurt, who conducted reconnaissance at the murder scene, to aggravated life imprisonment for the crime of 'premeditated murder,' and to 13 years in prison each for the crime of 'attempted murder' against the complainant Selman Bozkurt.

Özyağci was also sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison for the crime of 'unauthorized possession and carrying of a firearm.'

Doğukan Çep and Tolgahan Demirbaş were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for 'instigating premeditated murder.'

Sentencing defendants Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, Murat Can Çolak, and Emre Yüksel to 18 years in prison each, and defendant Mustafa Uzunlar to 15 years in prison for the crime of 'aiding in premeditated murder,' the court also sentenced defendant Alper Atay to 2 years in prison for the crime of "harboring a criminal."

Ayşe Ateş

THE PROCESS LEADING TO THE NON-PROSECUTION DECISION

The court, which decided to acquit the defendants Zekeriya Asarkaya, Hakan Saraç, Ufuk Köktürk, Mehmet Yüce, Osman Bayraktar, Caner Günay, Umut Ersoy, Çağlar Zorlu, Aytaç Ataç, and Erdem Karadeniz of the 'crimes charged against them,' had ruled that a report be filed with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding defendant Günay for the crime of 'harboring a criminal.'

With the decision of non-prosecution in the 2nd investigation concluded today, the Sinan Ateş file has been closed before official authorities.

The court had separated the files of Öktem and Aykal, and while Öktem was released, it had ruled that Aykal would continue to be tried while in detention.