Ayşe Ateş: 'The murder of Sinan is an organized crime'

Report: Müyesser YILDIZ -12punto

Sinan Ateş's wife, Ayşe Ateş, Ülkü Ocakları President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım's testimony to be taken and for the trial to be heard under the scope of "organized crimes"while mother Saniye Ateş requested that the case be heardwith Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, in particular, being held accountable including MHP members Olcay Kılavuz, Ulvi İzzet Yönter, and Semih Yalçın ofaccusing.

Following the merger decision, the case heard at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Courtis ongoing.In today'sfirst hearing, 5 of the 8defendants who are being tried without arrest attended.

“I don't remember… I don't know… I don't know him”

The hearing, attended by Sinan Ateş's mother, wife, sisters, and the lawyers for the parties, began with the interrogation of Yunus Hasar, who is currently detained in connection with another case. Claiming that he hadno knowledge of the incident,Hasar was asked by the Presiding Judge, “Did Suat Kurt not stay at your house?” to the question, “He stayed. He called through our family friend Koray Keskin and said he wanted to stay. When he arrived, I stayed at a hotel.”he replied.Upon the Presiding Judge's question, “Why did you go to the hotel? Why didn't you send him to the hotel?” Hasar responded, “My house was a 1+1. My female friends were uncomfortable. When they wanted to go to a hotel, we went.” While stating that the police arrived 15 minutes after Kurt left, Hasar also noted that Kurt had a prior case file....... ...he noted that he was aware of his status but did not know there was an arrest warrant issued for him.

Fatih Küçükerturan, who isaccused of “harboringa criminal”and connected to the hearing via SEGBİS,stated that he had no involvement in the incident.and argued that he was one of the victims. Upon questions from the presiding judge, he stated that he became an electrical technicianand that he went to work on his brother's bungalow houses in Sakarya on weekends, and that he did not know the triggerman of the Sinan Ateş assassination, Eray Özyağcı, and had never in his lifeseen him,explaining that Küçükerturan, his fatherhis cousin Cihangir Yavuz, refutingÖzyağcı's statement that "a weird-looking guy came," hedenied it as follows:

“Sucha thing never hapwith a checkdid not happen. It is something he made up in his own head. Eray Özyağcı coming is impossible. Because the gendarmerie was passing in front of those bungalows20 times a day. It is not possible for him to have dared to comethere.”

In the main Sinan Ateş case, the formerIdealist Hearthsofficial who wassentenced toaggravated life imprisonmenton charges of instigating the assassinationmanagerTolgahan Demirbaş's request, Ayşe Ateş's identity information, Suat Y ılmazzobu, who is alleged to have queriedstated that he did not remember whether he had done so or the messages from Demirbaş.Upon this, the Presiding JudgeThe presiding judge said, "I will read you some of Tolgahan Demirbaş's messages to help you remember," and asked what he did for a living. When Yılmazzobu stated that he was an electrician,the presiding judge asked,"Do you have the means to query such information?"Yılmazzobu replied.The judge continued his questioning.The proceedings moved forward.The court session continued.Yılmazzobu replied, "I don't know."

Yılmazzobu's lawyer argued that the digital evidence belonging to Tolgahan Demirbaş constituted "inadmissible evidence," requested its immediate destruction, and demanded Yılmazzobu's acquittal.

On the day of themurder, thepersonseenmeetingwith Tolgahan DemirbaşDismissed police officer Talha Atalay, who sent an information note regarding the death of Sinan Ateş to a WhatsApp group to Demirbaş, reiterated that he sent that notewhile discussing traffic fines, in the ordinary course of lifeand due to his conversation with him.His lawyer alsoargued that Atalay's trial in the High Criminal Court was unlawful and requested that he be exempted from attending the hearings.Because he did not provide the password for his phone,

he was...the fileseparated from the main case, theformer Ankara Murder Bureau Chief Mustafa Ensar Aykal, while stating that he reiterated his previous defenses, requested the removal of his judicial control measures. The presiding judge, according to the report from the US,stated that on his phone, Sinan Ateş's murdereddpointing out that there is an Ali Yücel record dated December 30, 2022and asked whether he knewAli Yücel or not. Aykal replied, "I had beenon duty for 5 years. I may havesaved his number in my contacts.That person"I was in a very intense meeting. During that time, I was meetingif he was one of the individuals, I don't remember. I have nothing coming to mind,” he said.

Aykal’s lawyer, Aziz Bingöl, stated that Sinan Ateş’s phone was seized after the murder, and that Ateş’s lawyer, Ali Yücel, might have called to ask when they could retrieve the phone or regarding other cases he waslooking into previously. Lawyer Bingölsaid that while they were sending the phone to the USA, Tolgahan Demirbaand Doğukan Çep's phonesnot beingsent, also criticizingthe situation.

The lawyer for the murderedSerdar Öktem, Oğuzhan Bilgin, meanwhile Öktem's filerequested that the files be separated and that thejudgment be rendered and the materials in judicial custody be returned.

The former Idealist HearthsDeputy Chairman, who was later appointed as the Idealist HearthsPresident of Izmir, Burak Kılıçdid not attend this hearingeither. His lawyer explained that Kılıçcould not attend due to health issues, that they had submitted the medical report, and that he could participate in the next hearing via SEGBİS from İzmir, before stating the following:“Regarding Burak K

ılıç,the only thing, an image alleged to have been retrieved from Tolgahan Demirbaş's mobile phone. This is evidence obtainedillegally. We have a bare PDF, a bare expert report in our hands. Burak Kılıçsent the remote viewof the residential complex where Sinan Ateş livedis alleged. Remote image is notpersonal data. Judicial control has been applied since 2023. For Burak Kılıç, regardingthe charge of qualified homicide, adecision of non-prosecution was issued. For cases not falling under the jurisdiction of the High Criminal Court, the judicial control period is 2 yis a crime. Since thealleged crimeis a crimethat fallsunder thejurisdiction of thecriminal court, Burak Kılıç's trialbe exempted from the hearings and that an acquittal decision be issued for him immediately."

Ayşe Ateş: "The Testimony of the Ülkü OcaklarıPresident Should Be Taken"

After the defense statements of the defendants and their lawyers were completed, the statements of the Ateş family and their lawyers were heard.

Sinan Ateş's wife, Ayşe Ateş, in summary, emphasized the following:

“Before Sinan was murdered, he toldme, his parents, and his close friends that Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım was also looking for a hiredkiller to murderhim,and despite the fact that we shared this information withyour high court,to our case; that it is established in light of the evidence in the file that the individuals currently on trial here conveyed the information they obtained about us regarding the murder of Sinan toTolgahan Demirbaş, who received a life sentence,and that he in turn conveyed this information to Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım; thatTolgahan Demirbaş, who received a life sentence,and Emre Yüksel, who was convicted of aiding and abetting,transported the hitman Erayin Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım's official vehicle, Özyağcı.smuggling Ağcı from Ankara to Istanbul in the previoustrial, leadingto a verdict;and to the fact that Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım was arrested after Sinan's murder andpassedin recent months with Serdar Öktem, who was killed, in an unlawfulmanner, and despite footage reflecting in the pressshowing that he had contactwith him while he was in custody, the individual named Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım has noteven been calledto give a statement. While Sinan was alive, Sinan's close friends' childrenwill give the order to have it followed to the extent that it is specific to Sinanthe person who accompanied him is this individual named Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım. This information is present among the evidence in the indictment. All of this information in light of this, it is an absurdity that the statement of the individual named Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım has not even been taken. Whether what I have described here is agreat coincidence or a planned murder is a matter that must be clarified for the public conscience to be relievedis essential. Ahmet YiI demand that the individual named Yiğit Yıldırım be summoned totestify and that the necessary trial be conducted in light of the evidence. In the judicial processconductedso far regarding the murder of Sinan, two Special Operations police officers, members of a gang, and in the face of your high court's decision,by saying 'We are proud to be members,' they displayed their political identityopenly.two individuals whoopenly and boldly stated were convicted.In the judicial proceedings conducted to date,the reasons behind Sinan's murder, and which darkforce brought these three differentgroups togetherquestions such ashave yet to find answers.However, your high court had establishedthe connection between them all and deemed it appropriateto impose the harshest penalties. Here, however,in the minds of all people of conscience, this question is seeking an answer: how did so manycriminals come togetherWhy is the trial not being conductedwithin the scopeof organized crime? I believe thatas a result of thetrial, all thesequestions will also find their answers.”

Mother Ateş Emphatically StatedThe Same Names

Sinan Ateş's mother, Saniye Ateş, also referred to the defendants as"gentlemen," drawing attention to the fact that theyremember nothing despite having come to herdoor to threaten her, and has been emphatically pointing to Olcay K. since the very first day.Kılavuz, Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, Ulvi İzzet Yönter and Semih Yalçın, stating that she had named them, and said, "Of course, it did not happen without the knowledge of that senile person whose name I do not even want to utter. I pray morning and night, may God bring disaster upon you all."

Sevda Ateş Yörükoğlu, one of Sinan Ateş's sisters, while reiterating her desire to trustin the justice system,noted that Selma Ateş Kazancı [spoke about] Burak Kılıç, who did not attend the hearing.thejackals, continuedto prowl in front of his house, explaining that“We have no business with the riffraff. Our issue is with those at the top.” She spokein this manner. Following this, the presidingjudge issued a warning, saying, "Let's not provoke each other."

Finally, takingthe floor,Şeyda Şahin, one of the lawyers for the Ateş family, stated that they do not know whether any information regarding the phones has been received from the US and that the USB drives have not been provided to them, and spoke as follows:“”

“WIt is as if everyone who was forgotten has been gathered in this file.This is not just about the seizure of personal data;there isa murder. The poor are being put on trial here,while thebig fishhave not even had their statements taken. Even Cihangir Yavuz has not been questioned for 3 years. Judicial controldefendants who violate the lawshould be issued arrest warrants and their requests for exemption from hearings should not be accepted. Sinan Öktem's materials held in judicial custody should not be returned until the case isclarified.”

Attorney Fatih Güneş also stated that Burak Kılıç’sending a medical report,criticizing it by saying, "It is not difficult to obtain a report in Turkey.An 80-year-old woman comes, but he does not. This means he does not take it seriously."Shedemandedthat an arrest warrant be issued for Kılıçor that stricter judicial control measures be applied.

Lawyer Sina Kaya, on the other hand, stated that Ayşe Ateş'spastreminding that she requested the arrest of SerdarÖktem, she said, "If that request had been taken into account and he had been arrested, a person would not have died and justice would have been served."

Following the completionof the statements, theprosecutor's opinionThe prosecutor, presenting their opinion, argued that the evidence alleged to have been obtained unlawfully should be destroyed,and requested that Serdar Öktem's request for the return of his digital devices and his request to be excused from attendance be denied, and that judicial control measures remainin effect, and that Cihangir Yavuz be called to testify.

The court accepted the prosecutor's requests and adjourned the hearing to March 4.

Müyesser YILDIZ

January 8, 2026