“I only have a photo in front of the MHP” defense at the Sinan Ateş trial: Here is the defendant's unknown statement

12punto.com.tr EXCLUSIVE

Former Ülkü Ocakları President and Hacettepe University faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Ateş lost his life as a result of an armed attack he was subjected to in Ankara on December 30, 2022.

The 22 defendants facing charges related to the murder began standing trial yesterday for "premeditated murder," "attempted murder," "incitement to commit a crime," and "aiding and abetting a crime."

Ufuk Köktürk, a former executive of the MHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency, who is being tried for aiding in the "premeditated murder committed collectively and in participation" of former Ülkü Ocakları President Sinan Ateş, presented his defense.

MHP members are among the defendants in the Sinan Ateş murder case. 

Tolgahan Demirbaş and Emre Yüksel had served as executives of the Ülkü Ocakları. One of the defendants, MHP lawyer Serdar Öktem, had also been an MHP candidate for Istanbul deputy. Another MHP figure is MHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency executive Ufuk Köktürk…

Ufuk Köktürk explained that he sent 4 thousand liras from his wife's bank account, saying, “Doğukan is a friend I like and cannot refuse. I know him from prison.” Köktürk made the following defense:

“I am a person who meets with Doğukan Çep face-to-face. If I were involved in this murder, I would give this money by hand. Even the prosecutor said, ‘Your only handicap is being friends with these people.’ But for some reason, our friend is being tried, we gave the same statements, but I am here. I don't think I will be released either, because the police are asking questions with the verdict already decided by a court that hasn't even been heard. Because it suits their interests; they want to involve the MHP. I am asked why I took a photo with an MHP executive. What is it? I took a photo in front of the MHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency. The police are asking me about this photo, saying, ‘Did the MHP order this?’ What does that have to do with anything? Can such a thing happen in a 55-year-old institutional party? What is happening is a complete comedy; there cannot be such a murder trial. I do not forgive those who conducted this investigation. These things happened to me just because I have a photo in front of the MHP.”

Ali Yücel, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, who stated that there were phone calls with the defendant Serdar Öktem on the day he was caught, asked Ufuk Köktürk the reason for these calls. However, Köktürk left this question unanswered.

“I AM ALREADY AN MHP MEMBER” DEFENSE

In its report dated June 3, 2024, titled “Who is the only defendant who said “I am an MHP member” in the Sinan Ateş murder?”, 12Punto published a document regarding Ufuk Köktürk. 

While Ufuk Köktürk said at today's hearing that he was made a defendant because he is an MHP member, he had specifically emphasized in his statement that he was an MHP member. 

Only one of the MHP-affiliated defendants in the Sinan Ateş murder case said “I am an MHP member” for the first time. 

12punto found that statement in the thousands of pages of supplementary folders of the murder trial. 

Ufuk Köktürk's name, which was previously on the MHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency's website, had been removed from the board of directors list.

Ufuk Köktürk was the only person who clearly said “I am an MHP member” during his interrogation at the Ankara 3rd Criminal Court of Peace on January 4, 2023. 

In the same statement, Köktürk's words, in which he also underlined that he had an “unlicensed weapon,” are as follows: 

“I did not run away when the police arrived; I was sitting in my house. I have an unlicensed pistol; I didn't even feel the need to hide it. I am already an MHP member politically.”

Here is that record: