Bora Kaplan's 14-year-9-month sentence overturned: He will be retried

The 1st Criminal Chamber of the Regional Court of Justice had finalized a portion of the sentences handed down in the 61-defendant Bora Kaplan case last July. With that decision, Bora Kaplan's 14-year-9-month prison sentence was finalized, while the path to the Court of Cassation remained open for his 53-year-3-month sentence.

After the Ankara Regional Court of Justice Chief Public Prosecutor's Office objected to the confirmation decisions, the file was sent to the Board of Presidents of the Criminal Chambers. On October 21, the Board ruled by majority vote to overturn the confirmation decisions, concluding that the status of the defendants would be affected by the case separated from the main trial and heard at the Ankara 31st High Criminal Court, as well as the case in which the police officers who conducted the Bora Kaplan operation are being tried for the escape of secret witness Serdar Sertçelik.

Following this, the 1st Criminal Chamber, which reviewed the file again yesterday, lifted the previously upheld, final-nature portions of the sentences given to Bora Kaplan and other defendants.

The sentences decided to be lifted unanimously due to legal irregularities in the investigation and trial process are as follows:

For Bora Kaplan; the sentences given for a total of 9 crimes, including aggravated assault against complainants Berke Kırıcı and Murat Yanar, intentional injury against victims Serdar Hoşyiğit, Muhammet Kaplan, Emirhan Bostancı, and Serhat Tümer, assuming a crime, destroying criminal evidence, and harboring a criminal.

The sentences given to defendants Yunus Fener, Doğuşcan Uğurlu, İsa Aktaş, Barış Kurt, Mümin Ali Beldek, Cemil Kumaşçıoğlu, Adnan Kaplan, Ali Dönmez, Arif Buğra Meşe, Burak Kapucu, Deniz Urcan, Emir Akyol, Emre Karataş, Ersoy Yahya, Ertan Yigen, Fatih Güler, Furkan Anıl Bahar, Gökhan Gülümser, Hasan Aslantaş, Hasan Can Saraçoğlu, Kanber Keskin, Levent Erdoğan, Mahmut Gökhan Çanga, Mehmet Karakuş, Metehan Oktay, Muhammed Mustafa Deniz, Muhammet Kaplan, Murat Altay, Murat Sağlam, Mutlu Ayaş, Sercan Keleş, Tansel Aktan, Ufuk Demirci, Uğur Pekşen, Umutcan Yıldırım, and Yusuf İzzet Savaş for the crime of membership in a criminal organization.

The sentences given to defendants Gürkan Ünüvar, Kozan Umut Öztürk, and Necdet Atilla Çiftçi for aiding a criminal organization; to Deniz Urcan for harboring a criminal and inciting a crime; and to Ersoy Yahya for destroying criminal evidence.

The sentences given to defendants Erdoğan Kaplan for intentional injury against victims Serhat Tümer and Serdar Hoşyiğit and aggravated assault against complainant Berke Kırıcı; and to Fethi Koyuncu for aggravated assault against victim Murat Yanar, intentional injury against complainant Berke Kırıcı and victims Serdar Hoşyiğit and Serhat Tümer, as well as assuming a crime, harboring a criminal, and concealing or destroying criminal evidence.

The sentences given to defendants Kanber Keskin, Bayram Ali Aydınlı, Ertan Yigen, and Fethi Koyuncu for intentional injury against victim Emirhan Bostancı; and to Metehan Oktay and Muhammed Mustafa Deniz for aggravated assault against victim Murat Yanar and violations of the Law on Firearms and Knives and Other Instruments.

The sentences given to defendants Fethi Koyuncu, Umutcan Yıldırım, and Yusuf İzzet Savaş for intentional injury against victim Muhammet Kaplan; to Burak Kopucu for destroying criminal evidence; and to Kamber Keskin for intentional injury against complainant Berke Kırıcı and victims Serdar Hoşyiğit and Serhat Tümer.

With the decision to lift the aforementioned sentences, the 1st Criminal Chamber also ruled that the file be sent to the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court for a retrial.

Müyesser YILDIZ

November 14, 2025