He changed the course of the Susurluk case: The 'black box' of the underworld, Hadi Özcan, has died!

Hadi Özcan, who made a name for himself with the organized crime gang operating in Kocaeli and Sakarya and was one of the most well-known figures in the underworld for a period, has died as a result of a heart attack in the Diyarbakır Prison where he was being held. 

HE SHED LIGHT ON THE SUSURLUK CASE

Özcan, who was laid to rest in Sakarya, was also involved in the Susurluk incident. 

In his testimony to the prosecutor following the Susurluk accident, he was the first to expose and record the true identity of Abdullah Çatlı, who used the code name 'Mehmet Özbey'.

Thirty years ago, crime organization leader Hadi Özcan, whose name was mentioned in the Kocaeli underworld and who was known as the 'black box' of the era, was involved in the murders of Nizamettin Keskin, Sürmeli Göçer, and Fehmi Göçer. Özcan had fled to Georgia. 

75 YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT SOUGHT

The 'black box' of the underworld, Hadi Özcan, was captured in 2020 and extradited to Turkey, and as a result of his trial, he was sentenced to 75 years in prison. During his trial, he had denied the accusations.

HE SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK IN PRISON

Özcan lost his life as a result of a heart attack he suffered the day before yesterday in the Diyarbakır Prison where he was being held. His funeral was held today in his hometown of Sapanca, Sakarya.

HE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE KOCAELI GANG

Hadi Özcan was known as the leader of the Kocaeli Gang, which was alleged to have carried out many armed actions in Kocaeli and Sakarya with his men. 

Özcan had been arrested and tried many times for crimes such as threats, extortion, and inciting murder and injury. In 2006, the vehicle he was in was subjected to an armed attack in İzmit, and his car was sprayed with automatic weapons. 

Özcan survived the incident with injuries. At the time, this attack was viewed as a 'mafia settling of scores'.

HE EXPOSED ÇATLI

In 2013, in journalist Sadık Güleç's book 'Death Triangle; A City, A Tough Guy, A Mafia Boss', Özcan recounted his relationships with important actors of Turkey's dark periods. The following information was included in the book's introduction:

Because Hadi Özcan was not a mafia boss who emerged from Istanbul, he did not receive as much attention as other names in the underworld. However, Hadi Özcan deserved closer attention than a small-scale assessment like 'inter-gang settling of scores'. 

The 'Kocaeli gang' was a structure involved in relationships that went beyond a local definition. Although it occasionally appeared in some state reports, such as the Susurluk report, Özcan's path crossed with all the names that occupied Turkey's agenda from the late eighties throughout the nineties. He had done business with them, fought with some, and some had wanted to shoot him. From others, he had 'collected debts'.

Among these names were the Demirel family, Kocaeli's CHP mayor Sefa Sirmen, Abdullah Çatlı, Mehmet Ağar, former Special Operations Department Head İbrahim Şahin, and Colonel Veli Küçük, who served as the Kocaeli Provincial Gendarmerie Regiment Commander, 'Yeşil' (Mahmut Yıldırım), Sedat Peker, and Kürşat Yılmaz... Death Triangle draws attention to a subject that was least focused on after the Susurluk accident.

Again, during that period, while Özcan recounted in the book that Abdullah Çatlı had made plans to kill him, he was the first to expose and record the true identity of Abdullah Çatlı, who used the code name 'Mehmet Özbey', in his testimony to the prosecutor following the Susurluk accident.