Hablemitoğlu assassination trial: Contradictory testimony from US Embassy employee

Müyesser YILDIZ - 12punto.com.tr

The trial regarding the assassination of academic and author Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu has continued.

Today's session of the trial, held at the Ankara 28th High Criminal Court, began with a 2-hour delay due to a member judge falling ill. Retired specialist sergeant Enver Erdoğan, who served as a security officer at the US Embassy during the time of the assassination and was heard as a witness, drew attention with his contradictory statements. Erdoğan explained these contradictions by saying, "Excuse me, I don't remember the past because I had a brain hemorrhage."

In the hearing where non-custodial defendants Levent Göktaş, Tarkan Mumcoğlu, Fikret Emek, Mehmet Narin, and Aydın Köstem were present in the courtroom, and Enver Altaylı, who is detained for another crime, connected via SEGBİS from prison, Enver Erdoğan testified that he resigned as a specialist sergeant from the Land Forces Command between 1995-1999, passed the US Embassy exam, and worked there in a counter-surveillance team until 2013. He explained that in this capacity, he monitored the residence where embassy personnel lived in the building opposite the late Hablemitoğlu's house.

BRAIN HEMORRHAGE CLAIM

During the Court President's questioning, Erdoğan, who made statements different from his previous testimonies, attributed his inability to remember certain things to having suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Upon this, the Hablemitoğlu family's lawyer, Ersan Barkın, emphasized the contradictions, stating that the witnesses were skilled at not telling what they knew.

Meanwhile, it was noted that when the Court President asked about the locations of the embassy residence and Hablemitoğlu's house, where witness Erdoğan stood, and where he saw the Volvo vehicle reported as suspicious, based on crime scene photos provided by the defense lawyers, Prosecutor Zafer Ergün stood up, searched through the files to find the crime scene photos, and handed them to the President.

Şengül Hablemitoğlu also asked witness Enver Erdoğan to reconsider the issue of his encounter with her on the day of the incident, and then underscored that his accounts did not reflect the truth.