Striking 'MHP' detail in the Sinan Ateş murder: Bolu Provincial Chairman İlhan Durak's vehicle was also caught on camera

Following the murder of former Ülkü Ocakları (Idealist Hearths) Chairman Sinan Ateş, former Ülkü Ocakları executive Tolgahan Demirbaş and Ülkü Ocakları Deputy Chairman Emre Yüksel were accused of helping the hitman Eray Özyağcı escape from Ankara to Istanbul in an Audi-brand vehicle with the license plate 06 AT 5021.

It was alleged that Yüksel and Demirbaş, who were using this vehicle—stated to be the official car of Ülkü Ocakları Chairman Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım—briefly left the hitman in Bolu during this journey.

Striking documents regarding the traffic of Demirbaş and Yüksel in Bolu have been entered into the Sinan Ateş case file. The document in question is an "investigation report" prepared by four police officers under the direction of the then-Ankara Police Department Deputy Chief of Public Security Kerem Gökay Öner.

TWO SUSPICIOUS VEHICLES PASSED BEHIND DEMİRBAŞ AND YÜKSEL

According to the documents obtained by DW Turkish, the Audi-brand vehicle with license plate 06 AT 5021, carrying Yüksel and Demirbaş, left Ankara on December 30, 2022, at 19.30, returned from Sakarya Akyazı at 21.18, and passed through the Bolu PTS Server/Düzce Bolu Entrance PTS at 22.25. A white Passat with license plate 14 ABU 634 and a black Fluence-brand vehicle with license plate 14 ABU 171 also passed through the same PTS one after another at 22.25.

One of the suspicious vehicles went to Karacaağaç Plateau

The two vehicles with 14 license plates proceeded one after another around 22.45 from the Bolu-Karacasu PTS point, meaning they headed from the Bolu city center toward the Seben district. The 14 ABU 171 Fluence vehicle passed the Adya Hotel at 23.08 and turned toward the Karacaağaç Plateau. Approximately 28 minutes later, the same vehicle came from the direction of the Karacaağaç Plateau road and headed toward the Bolu city center at around 23.36. On December 31, 2022, at 00.05, the vehicles with license plates 14 ABU 171 and 14 ABU 634 were detected passing a gas station in Karacasu-Bolu one after another. Both vehicles traveled from the Seben district toward the Bolu city center.

WHO DO THESE VEHICLES BELONG TO?

In the research conducted by the police, it was determined that the Passat with license plate 14 ABU 634 belonged to the then-MHP Bolu Provincial Chairman İlhan Durak, and the Fluence with license plate 14 ABU 171 belonged to the Bolu Ülkü Ocakları Deputy Chairman Ramazan Özdemir.

MHP BOLU PROVINCIAL CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT WAS TAKEN

This situation was reported to the investigation prosecutors in Ankara. Upon this, an instruction was issued under the signature of Ankara Public Prosecutor Durmuş Ali Kaya to take the statements of İlhan Durak and Ramazan Özdemir as witnesses. It was learned that these individuals provided their statements as witnesses within the scope of the investigation.

On the other hand, both vehicles were taken to the Ankara Police Department on January 26, 2023, where they were searched and fingerprinted. İlhan Durak currently serves as the Ülkü Ocakları Secretary General. Durak was also the MHP's candidate for Mayor of Bolu in the March 31 local elections.

AN MHP MP ALSO ESCORTED SERDAR ÖKTEM IN BOLU

In the prosecutor's instruction letter dated January 26, 2023, it was stated that the vehicle with license plate 14 AYY 148, which was determined to have escorted the vehicle used by Serdar Öktem—a detainee in the case—in Bolu, was driven by the then-Bolu Ülkü Ocakları Chairman İsmail Akgül. The letter instructed that Akgül's statement also be taken as a witness. Akgül was elected as an MHP Bolu Member of Parliament in the May 14 elections.

In the photo previously brought to light by DW Turkish, the Passat with license plate 06 DB 7018, which is stated in the indictment to have been used by Serdar Öktem, is seen passing through the Karacasu traffic lights in Bolu at 11.37, with the vehicle 14 AYY 148 escorting it in front. Documents in the file state that the vehicle in question was driven by the then-Bolu Ülkü Ocakları Chairman İsmail Akgül. However, it is alleged that it was not Serdar Öktem but Ankara Ülkü Ocakları Chairman Ömer Şanlı who was in that vehicle.

INVESTIGATION INTO THE HITMAN HIDING AT KARACAAĞAÇ PLATEAU

Following the arrival of Tolgahan Demirbaş and Emre Yüksel in Bolu, it was found that the house of Mehmet Akgül, the father of MHP Bolu MP İsmail Akgül, is located at the Karacaağaç Plateau, where the suspicious vehicles went. The police investigation determined that the other houses on the plateau were in a derelict state. It was noted that the only usable house belonged to Akgül. Within the scope of the investigation, police searched this house on January 26, 2023, approximately one month after the murder. At the same time, a fingerprint analysis was conducted on the car belonging to the father of MHP Bolu MP İsmail Akgül. The analysis detected Akgül's fingerprints. However, no evidence was found that the hitman stayed in this house or was transported in this vehicle.