Defendant in Hablemitoğlu assassination case passes away
Serhat Ilıcak, the nephew of the late Kemal Ilıcak, owner of the Tercüman newspaper, who was named as a defendant in the Necip Hablemitoğlu assassination case reopened after 20 years, has passed away in Germany. Enver Altaylı, one of the defendants in the case, stated that Ilıcak was added to the file despite having no connection to the case, solely because he was a close friend of his, and accused the prosecutor who conducted the investigation, Zafer Ergün. Meanwhile, it was reported that reaching the true perpetrators of the Hablemitoğlu assassination is a matter of time in the new investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, while it was decided that the judicial control measures applied to the former defendants for 3 years would continue.
Müyesser Yıldız
In today's session of the trial, which has been ongoing for 3 years at the Ankara 28th High Criminal Court, the lawyer for the Hablemitoğlu family stated that they understand from the documents requested in the investigation initiated by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding suspects thought to have followed the late Necip Hablemitoğlu at his conference in Eskişehir and at a Migros store just before he was murdered, that the investigation is being conducted comprehensively, and requested that the outcome of this investigation be awaited.
The defendants present at the hearing, Levent Göktaş, Tarkan Mumcuoğlu, Fikret Emek, and Aydın Köstem, also requested that the judicial control measures be lifted while awaiting the outcome of the aforementioned investigation.
Enver Altaylı, who connected via SEGBİS from Sincan Prison where he is serving a sentence for another crime, said, "There has been a very important development that I think will also concern your panel," and announced that Serhat Ilıcak, one of the defendants whose file was separated on the grounds that he was a fugitive, passed away two days ago, and said the following:
"Serhat Ilıcak was my closest, dearest friend. Prosecutor Zafer Ergün added this 80-year-old man to this file with forced allegations solely for this reason, even though he had no connection and did not know any of the people here. His reputation was damaged, and most importantly, his health deteriorated. He could not meet with his beloved country, his loved ones, and his friends. He provided scholarships to many students. He built hospitals and schools. He could not bear the ugly allegations. He missed his country so much that he sent me word saying, 'I will return to the country even at the cost of going to prison.' I told him not to come because I did not want another innocent person to go to prison. I leave Zafer Ergün to God. I am very sad. I want to be exempted from the hearings."
"FINDING THE TRUE PERPETRATORS IS A MATTER OF TIME"
Ali Soykan, the lawyer for defendant Levent Göktaş, reminded that judicial control measures have been applied since 2023 and said, "There is an investigation being conducted to find the true perpetrators. We hear that the investigation has been expanded beyond the Eskişehir and Migros footage, and we believe that finding the true perpetrators is a matter of time."
Hülya Elmadağ, the lawyer for Mehmet Narin, who is exempted from the hearings, requested the return of her client's two service weapons, noting that they understood from the correspondence that these weapons were not accounted for.
Other defense lawyers also stated that the file was complete and requested the lifting of judicial control measures, while Tarkan Mumcuoğlu's lawyer, Mehmet Eren Turan, said, "In this case, we have understood who did not kill Hablemitoğlu. In the new case to be opened, we will learn who did kill him."
The prosecutor, whose opinion was asked, requested that the judicial control measures for all defendants be continued.
After the break for deliberation, the Presiding Judge announced that after stating that Mehmet Narin's weapons were in judicial custody, Enver Altaylı's request for exemption was rejected, the judicial control measures for the defendants would continue, and the result of the investigation conducted by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office would be awaited, and adjourned the hearing to October 14.
Müyesser YILDIZ
May 18, 2026