FETÖ allegations in the Cem Garipoğlu case: Here is the secret of the 700 thousand euros found in the house...
The exhumation of the grave of Cem Garipoğlu, the suspect in the Münevver Karabulut murder in Istanbul, has brought the brutal crime back to the forefront of Turkey's agenda. Following this development, allegations have resurfaced that 6 police officers who inspected the villa where the murder took place embezzled the money found there, and that the money they embezzled was funneled to the FETÖ terrorist organization.
12punto
Cem Garipoğlu, the son of the Garipoğlu family, brutally murdered his girlfriend Münevver Karabulut in a villa in Bahçeşehir on March 3, 2009, and her body was found in a trash container in Etiler.
Cem Garipoğlu surrendered 197 days after the murder and ended his life by committing suicide while in prison. This murder, which suddenly became the focus of Turkey's agenda, remained a constant topic of discussion in the following years with every stage of the case. Most recently, following an application by the family last week, a new DNA test was requested. Finding the application by the family's lawyer, Rezzan Epözdemir, to be justified, the court decided to open Garipoğlu's grave and collect new DNA samples.
The body exhumed last week was brought to the Istanbul Council of Forensic Medicine for examination. The DNA samples taken as a result of the examination confirmed that they belonged to Cem Garipoğlu. Following this development, the FETÖ allegations raised regarding the brutal murder, which has almost consistently dominated Turkey's agenda with every new development, have resurfaced.
The allegation that police officers who arrived at a villa in Bahçeşehir to investigate a murder scene embezzled 700 thousand euros has suddenly become a bombshell on Turkey's agenda.
Six of the police officers who conducted an inspection at the villa embezzled 700 thousand euros by failing to record the money. Following the discovery of the embezzlement, the 6 police officers and 3 site staff members, who were alleged to have deleted the security camera footage, have gone on trial.
Following the emergence of the embezzlement case, the family's lawyer, Rezzan Epözdemir, made a series of statements claiming that the embezzlement was not a personal matter and that the money had gone to FETÖ.
Epözdemir also added to his claims that the lawyer for the defendant police officers was later revealed to be a FETÖ fugitive.
With the issue returning to the agenda, the case concluded in 2018, in which 6 police officers and 3 residential complex staff were tried on allegations of failing to record 700 thousand Euros found in a home in the official reports and failing to examine security camera footage, has come to mind once again.
The court, which reached a verdict in the case on January 16, 2018, sentenced 6 police officers to 6 thousand TL in judicial fines each for the crime of "misconduct in office."
Both site staff members were also sentenced to 6 thousand TL in judicial fines each for the crime of "destroying, concealing, or altering evidence of a crime."
Rezan Epözdemir, the lawyer for the Karabulut family, had pointed out at the time that the indictment was not being accepted by the court for some reason.
It had issued a warning that the case, which was held on April 26, 2010, would be subject to the statute of limitations in 4 months.
Epözdemir had explained that the letters written to the institutions to resolve the contradictions between the reports received in the file were met with a refusal.
The court stated that it had sent the external hard drive to TÜBİTAK, ITU, and the Council of Forensic Medicine for examination, and had claimed that these institutions did not examine the external hard drive, citing a lack of personnel and qualified staff as the reason.
Explaining that the gendarmerie, to whom the court had finally sent the external hard drive, also reported that the drive was not in their possession, Epözdemir said, "It is as if a hidden hand touched this file and lost the external hard drive from the case."
The file was treated as if it were plague-ridden. Then, we suddenly realized that the lawyer for the six defendants who are police officers in the case...
A lawyer who has an arrest warrant issued against him, based on his role as the FETÖ judiciary imam in many significant cases, ranging from the MHP tape conspiracy to the match-fixing plot.
Halil İbrahim Koca, the lawyer for the accused police officers, became a wanted individual for FETÖ following the December 17-25 events.
That was when we put all the pieces together. It raised reasonable suspicion both for the family and for us.
We are of the opinion that even the 700 thousand euros obtained from here may have been transferred to this terrorist organization,” he had stated.