Interim ruling announced in the Sinan Ateş case: 10 defendants released

On the fifth day of the Sinan Ateş trial, journalist and 12punto columnist Müyesser Yıldız reported the developments moment by moment...

Sinan Ateş's wife, Ayşe Ateş, mentioned the names of many MHP members in the court records while testifying yesterday.

Sinan Ateş's mother, Saniye Ateş, fainted during the trial and demanded that her son's killers be found.

Sinan Ateş's sister, Selma Ateş, like Ayşe Ateş, named many MHP members.

Additionally, a significant development occurred in the case. Kerem Gökay Özay, who was serving as the Deputy Branch Manager of the Public Security Bureau at the time of the assassination, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecutor's office.

According to the report by Alican Uludağ from DW Turkish, Özay stated, “We detained Tolgahan Demirbaş at the home of the then-MHP Mersin Deputy Olcay Kılavuz.”

An interim ruling was announced in the Sinan Ateş case.

10 defendants were released. The released defendants were "Mehmet Yüce, Erdem Karadeniz, Osman Bayraktar, Zekeriya Asarkaya, Hakan Saraç, Ufuk Köktürk, Aytaç Ataç, Caner Günay, Umut Ersoy, and Alper Atay."

The hearing was adjourned to July 19 for the public prosecutor to present their final opinion on the merits.

The court rejected the Ateş family's request to merge the separate file involving 17 individuals with this case.

According to Medyascope, the following was recorded in some witness testimonies:

The court panel adjourned the hearing until 14:00 for deliberation.

When asked by the lawyer of Özyağcı, who is being tried as the gunman, “how many shots did you fire,” witness Keçik replied, “I may have fired at most three or four shots,” and when asked if he heard “shouts of 'we shot the Chief'” at the scene, he replied, “We never use the word 'Chief' (Reis). Because he (Ateş) was the President, I call him president, and Selma sister addresses him as 'brother'. I didn't hear anyone say such a thing there either.”

Ahmet Keçik, who was with Sinan Ateş when he was subjected to the armed attack, was heard as a witness at the trial.

Keçik, who said he was Ateş's student at Hacettepe University, said the following:

“I went to his office. When I arrived, he was performing ablution. Later, I went to Friday prayers. I was on foot both going and returning. Our direction of travel was the same. We were attacked on the way back. He suddenly appeared in front of us, opened fire on the deceased, and the deceased fell to the ground. He fired very rapidly. It could have been 9-10 shots. As far as I remember, he fired towards his torso. There was a commercial vehicle, I headed towards its right side. Gunshots were still continuing.”

When the court president asked what Selman did, Keçik said, “I couldn't see what Selman brother did. The person was constantly firing at the deceased, he started to leave while firing. I went to the deceased. I saw he had a gun in his waistband. I felt the need to defend myself. I was afraid the person would turn back and attack. I took the gun from Ateş's waistband and fired into the air. The deceased was not reacting in any way. I checked on Selman brother, he had also collapsed to the ground, he was wounded. I took both guns to the office. I handed them over to a sister who works at the office. I said, 'Let these guns not get lost.'”

When asked by the lawyer of Özyağcı, who is alleged to be the gunman, “How many gunshots did you hear,” witness Ergin replied, “Either four or five shots... Then it could be two shots... I heard a shorter gunshot sound.” When asked, “Did the person fleeing have a gun in his hand,” Ergin replied, “He had a gun in his hand while running.”

Witness Gönül Ergin, who explained that she saw Vedat Balkaya, who used the motorcycle after the incident, and Eray Özyağcı, who is alleged to be the gunman, fleeing, said: “I had a doctor's appointment that day, I went out, got into my car, and heard a few gunshots. I didn't see the moment of the shooting. When I heard the gunshots, I looked around wondering where they were coming from, and I saw someone running with a gun in his left hand, with a long tip, a bit larger, without a mask on his head. That person got on the back of someone waiting on a motorcycle and the motorcycle moved. He got on the motorcycle with his gun in his hand. I was driving at that time, he put his helmet on his head and continued on the Konya road. I didn't know who the person shot was. As a citizen, I called the police when I saw someone with a gun. I took a photo of the motorcycle while in the car. I said to the police, 'Let me send you the photo.' Then I went to the scene, I took a commissioner's phone and sent the photos.”

Demirbaş, who is alleged to be the instigator, had gone to the farm he visited after the incident to fish. In response to the questions of Aytaç Ataş's lawyer, “Does Aytaç know about the farm? If so, has he been there? Does Tolgahan go there,” witness Süleymanoğlu replied, “Yes, I have been to his farm. It's a nice place, we have even had a barbecue there. I know he fishes, he had told me (Demirbaş).”

Another witness, Yavuz Süleymanoğlu, explained that he knew one of the defendants, Aytaç Ataş, and that he was at the cafe named Marcopaşa, which belongs to Ataş, on the day Ateş was killed:

“While I was sitting there, a friend of mine named Ersan called me and said, 'There is a place called Hof, they killed an hearth president there.' I said there is no noise or commotion, I didn't hear anything. Aytaç asked, 'Let me call Tolgahan, he knows,' he said. Aytaç had introduced Tolgahan to me as the hearth vice president. He called and said, 'I couldn't find out anything.'”

The testimony of witness Yusuf Mert began to be taken at the hearing.

Mert, who stated that he is a motorcycle courier, said the following regarding the aftermath of the incident:

“I came across the fleeing individuals. There were two of them and they were getting on a motorcycle. One was on the motorcycle, and the other was getting on. The driver had a helmet on his left arm, which was most likely the passenger's helmet. We went one after another with them until Next Level. They turned onto the Konya road. They were driving the motorcycle fast. He got on the motorcycle quickly and in a hurry. I remember the 35 E part of the license plate, the rest was taped over.”

FIRST STATEMENT FROM AYŞE ATEŞ

Following the court's interim ruling, Sinan Ateş's wife, Ayşe Ateş, made a press statement in front of the courthouse.

Ateş's statements are as follows:

After all the disloyalty and baseness we have seen from those we called friends, and all the mercy and compassion shown by those we knew as enemies, I want to underline once again that the only branch I hold onto in life is goodness, and that I categorize people as good and bad.

Dear members of the press, the theater of a setup, supported by the press and social media, which for 5 days at the Sincan campus witnessed the efforts of the defendants and their defense attorneys to reduce a political assassination to a debt dispute, has ended today.

As you are aware, there are 2 files that are separated from each other, despite being entirely related in terms of the suspects they cover, the connections between the suspects, and the evidence they contain.

That is why we call this trial in Sincan a 'half-court' conducted with an incomplete indictment. We declare to our beloved nation that we find every decision taken, whether positive or not, legally incomplete.

If I need to list the reasons for this, as you know, a criminal complaint was filed with the HSK against the prosecutors handling the file on the grounds that they were FETÖ members. The most important basis for this criminal complaint was the statements of drug dealers and hired killers. Those who liked the incomplete indictment until yesterday and mocked us have now started to dislike it.

Although it is known that the indictment was prepared based on the picture presented by the prosecutors against whom a criminal complaint was filed throughout the investigation process, the call made from the parliamentary podium that 'the indictment must be accepted as soon as possible, the trial must begin' was suddenly forgotten with a new scenario that came to mind.

Remember, not long ago, a few weeks ago, an individual named Burak Bekiroğlu made a post on social media, tagging me, and made threats saying, 'If you speak again, I will frame you for FETÖ in such a way that even if you hire 100 lawyers, you won't be able to escape, I will bury you in Pennsylvania,' and put forward the claim that this murder was instigated by Mustafa Özcan, who is known to be a fugitive FETÖ imam. On top of that, reading my mind, he said, 'You know this truth too.' I filed a criminal complaint against him through my lawyers regarding his threats.

He, on the other hand, has not yet submitted the information and documents regarding the claim that this murder was instigated by the fugitive FETÖ imam Mustafa Özcan to the prosecutor's office.

So what happened next? The defense attorneys warmed up these sloppy claims and put them in front of us in the courtroom. They did not present any findings or documents.

Just like those who speak based on the statement of a hired killer that Selman killed Sinan, and those who claim to be cleared by these statements... The framework of the interrogations conducted by the defense attorneys throughout the trial covered the claims and accusations put forward days ago by a certain focus on social media.

Yesterday, we made a post with documents about this on my X account; those who want to see the truth can look there.

Also, in the press statement I made yesterday morning, I drew attention to this attack we were subjected to during the trial.

Immediately afterwards, the sold-out pens of the dark power started to make propaganda saying 'Ayşe Ateş defended the FETÖ imam.' Because they want to close this case by saying 'FETÖ did it.'

They have set up the stall, they are marketing our contrary statements as defending FETÖ, FETÖ members, and the FETÖ imam.

Actually, they are saying, 'You will accept whatever we say, you will not be able to go outside the framework we have drawn, if you do, we will ruin you.'

I went out, I am going out, I will go out! Let everyone know this!

I will tear that framework you drew to pieces and throw it under your feet.

Dear members of the press, the process we have observed has led us to this conclusion. It turns out that this theater, which was constructed at the center of the smear campaigns and FETÖ slanders carried out against Sinan, both through official accounts just before he was murdered and through fake accounts opened from the moment he was murdered, and which is being exhibited in the process we are in, has been there all along.

A plan was made saying, 'After we kill him, we will declare whoever stands against us, whether prosecutor, police officer, mother, sister, or wife, a FETÖ member, and say that Sinan was a FETÖ member and this was an intra-organizational execution carried out to target us, and by using the power we have, we will cover it up in this way.'

I am not claiming this. The sold-out pens and troll accounts of the dark power write and draw this scenario every day on social media and in the press.

You are also observing this organized evil. I do not want to prolong this and steal the valuable time of both you and our beloved nation who listen to us.

The village in sight does not need a guide anyway. Because every development is taking place before the public eye once again.

Respected members of the press, it is clearly evident that a parliamentary inquiry commission must be established so that not the slightest doubt arises that evidence has been tampered with in this file, that this trial process proceeds quickly and does not deviate from the truth, that the pressure intended to be placed on the judiciary and the police by this dark power with frightening power is prevented, and that this political assassination can be clarified in all its aspects.

Because if this political assassination, committed in the heart of Ankara, right next to the Presidential Complex, in front of cameras, and in broad daylight, is covered up, the next target of this barrel could be any of our citizens in a dark and secluded corner, it could be you too.

With the courage gained from here, many political assassinations can be committed one after another. As you are aware, our history is full of these and similar painful experiences. Sinan's massacre must remain the last link in the chain of political assassinations. Undoubtedly, with this commission to be established, the first step of a new process that will be a hope for all the grievances seeking justice in our country will also have been taken.

In this context, I request each of our deputies in our supreme Parliament to show a will on this matter.”

HISTORY OF THE CASE

Ankara 22nd High Criminal Court opened a case against only 22 detained defendants on April 26 and accepted the indictment on May 7.

Among the 22 detained defendants to be tried are former Ülkü Ocakları executives Tolgahan Demirbaş, Emre Yüksel, and Serdar Öktem.

In the indictment, aggravated life imprisonment is requested for the gunman Eray Özyağcı and Vedat Balkaya and Suat Kurt, who brought him to the scene and helped him escape, for the crime of “premeditated murder.”

For Doğukan Çep and the suspect former Ülkü Ocakları executive Tolgahan Demirbaş, who are alleged to have ''organized the armed action,'' aggravated life imprisonment is requested for the crime of ''premeditated murder in participation, collectively against the victim as an instigator of the crime.''

For the defendants Zekeriya Asarlaya, Hakan Saraç, Ufuk Köktürk, Mehmet Yüce, Mustafa Uzunlar, Askın Mert Gelenbey, Murat Can Çolak, Osman Bayraktar, Caner Güney, Umut Ersoy, Çaglar Zorlu, Aytaç Ataç, Emre Yüksel, Serdar Öktem, Erdem Karadeniz, Alper Atay, and Mustafa Ensar Aykal, imprisonment is requested for the crime of ''premeditated murder in participation, collectively against the victim as a perpetrator aiding the crime committed in participation.''

WHO ARE THE RELEASED DEFENDANTS AND WHAT WERE THEY ACCUSED OF

An interim ruling was announced in the Sinan Ateş murder case and the release of 10 defendants was decided. Those names are: Mehmet Yüce, Erdem Karadeniz, Osman Bayraktar, Zekeriya Asarkaya, Hakan Saraç, Ufuk Köktürk, Aytaç Ataç, Caner Günay, Umut Ersoy, and Alper Atay were released.

So, who are the 10 released defendants and what were they accused of?

UFUK KÖKTÜRK

Ufuk Köktürk, one of the names released by the court panel, was an executive of the MHP Istanbul Provincial Presidency. He was dismissed from his post after being arrested in the Sinan Ateş murder.

MHP members are among the suspects in the Sinan Ateş murder.

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

Ufuk Köktürk explained that he sent 4 thousand liras from his wife's bank account, saying, “Doğukan is a friend I love 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 given by a court that hasn't been seen. Because it suits them 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, 'Did the MHP have this done?' What does that have to do with it? Can such a thing happen in a 55-year-old corporate party? What is happening is a complete comedy, there cannot be such a murder case. I do not forgive those who conducted this investigation. I ended up in this situation just because I have a photo in front of the MHP.”

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

“I AM ALREADY AN MHP MEMBER” DEFENSE

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

While Ufuk Köktürk said in 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-member defendants in the Sinan Ateş murder said “I am an MHP member” for the first time.

12punto found that statement in the thousands of pages of additional folders of the murder case.

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 name who clearly said “I am an MHP member” in his interrogation at the Ankara 3rd Criminal Judgeship of Peace on January 4, 2023.

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

“I didn't run away the moment 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:

ERDEM KARADENİZ

A search was conducted at the home of Erdem Karadeniz, who is detained in the Sinan Ateş murder case and was released at today's hearing, in the Beykoz district of Istanbul on January 4, 2023.

According to ANKA's news, a person named Gökhan Türkmen opened the door of the house during the search conducted by the Special Operations Branch teams, and the detained defendant Erdem Karadeniz was caught. In the record, which stated that criminal elements were found during the body search of Karadeniz, the following statements were included:

"The house search began in the opposite living room part of the residence, a steel safe was seen in the room of the residence owner Gökhan Türkmen on the first floor of the residence, the person opened the steel safe himself, 40 full cartridges of 3 mm diameter, 50 full cartridges of 3.57 mm diameter, 1 long and 1 short, a total of 2 magazines belonging to FN (Five Seven) brand pistols, 150 full cartridges of 5.7 mm diameter belonging to FN brand pistols, 40 full cartridges of 5 mm diameter were seized and taken under protection. In a bag buried under the dug soil at the bottom of the outer kitchen wall of the house; 1 black-handled steel pistol, one quick-loading device belonging to the pistol, cartridges pressed into the device... and a total of 12 cartridges, including 6 in the chamber of the pistol, 1 brown-handled pistol, one magazine belonging to the pistol, 8 cartridges of 9 mm pressed into the magazine were seized. Another pistol was seized in the kitchen part of the house, evaluated as a silencer on the barrel part, 2 magazines and 9 cartridges of 36 caliber belonging to these magazines were seized. On the kitchen table, another pistol, two magazines belonging to the pistol, 5 cartridges of 9 mm pressed into the magazine were seen. The person named Gökhan Türkmen declared that the weapon belonged to him and that he had a license, and it was understood from the person's license inquiry that the weapon belonged to him, and the weapon, magazine, and cartridges were delivered to the person. During the search phase in the approximately 1-decare land garden, upon hearing a sound from the roof of the gazebo located in the garden part of the place, it was seen that a person was hiding in a lying position on the roof part of the gazebo, the person was warned to come down, and it was understood that the person whose identity was searched was a person named Ceyhun Demirel. Upon the person's interrogation, it was understood that there was a search record for 6 crimes, and upon the understanding that he was wanted for these crimes, his legal rights were read to him and he was caught. It was learned that Erdem Karadeniz, Ceyhun Demirel, Süleyman Karadeniz, Hamza Engin, Oğuzhan Coşkun, Serkan Yılmaz, and Gökhan Türkmen were caught during the search and resisted the security forces. The search was ended around 02.30 on January 5, 2023.”

At the hearing, defendant Erdem Karadeniz's lawyer, Egehan Poyrazoğlu, who is being tried for aiding the crime of “premeditated murder in participation, collectively against Sinan Ateş,” claimed that there was no concrete evidence against defendant Erdem Karadeniz and said the following:

“Therefore, his detention must be lifted immediately. Erdem Karadeniz, who is given a single line of space in the 145-page indictment, is staying in a single-person cell. Karadeniz was not seen as a suspect in this file by law enforcement and prosecutors, and the only question directed was 'Does he have a connection with the hotel where Doğukan Çep was caught?' It is fixed in the trade registry gazette that the hotel is registered to Gökhan Türkmen. That's why my client is detained. This claim was put forward by FETÖ member Cevheri Güven because this person claimed that Karadeniz knew former ministers Mehmet Ağar and politician Semih Yalçın, and he was arrested because of this. Is the Republic of Turkey's justice system managed from social media?”

AYTAÇ ATAÇ

Aytaç Ataç, one of the released defendants, was the owner of the cafe named Marco Paşa, where Tolgahan Demirbaş, who is accused of instigation, and former MIT officer Çağlar Zorlu are alleged to have met, and the farm in Gölbaşı, where the gunman Eray Özyağcı is alleged to have been smuggled. It was included in the file that Tolgahan Demirbaş asked former MIT officer Çağlar Zorlu to determine Sinan Ateş's current address with his phone number. It was determined that Aytaç Ataç called former MIT officer Çağlar Zorlu and Tolgahan Demirbaş after Sinan Ateş was killed.

Aytaç Ataç's lawyer, Hüseyin Beyhan, stated at the hearing that there was no act of aiding the murder. Arguing that everyone is writing a theater in the newspapers, Beyhan said that the farm was not mentioned in the indictment and that the farm was checked on the day of the incident. Noting that his client had never stayed in prison before and saying that 6 months of his 18-month detention were spent in a cell, Beyhan said, “They kept him in a cell for 6 months so that my client would become a confessor.”

CANER GÜNAY

Caner Günay, one of the defendants released at the hearing, was a friend from the football club in Çekmeköy of Doğukan Çep, who clearly stated at the hearing that he was the instigator of the Sinan Ateş murder, and the taxi driver who left the gunman Eray Özyağcı at the parking lot to come to Ankara, arranged by Doğukan Çep.

During Doğukan Çep's hiding in the hotel, it was reflected in the file that Caner Günay was shown in a video call as the person who would stay at the hotel in the statement of Gökhan Türkmen, who is called the hotel owner. The defendants and Gökhan later denied this claim.

In his defense, Caner Günay stated that he had a taxi driver-customer relationship with Doğukan Çep, that he called by phone, and that he took Çep to the locations he wanted. Günay also said that he fulfilled Doğukan Çep's requests such as taking money from some locations and bringing it to him as a customer-taxi driver relationship.

OSMAN BAYRAKTAR

Osman Bayraktar, one of the released defendants, was the unofficial partner of the person who provided the vehicle that took the gunman Eray Özyağcı, who shot Sinan Ateş, to Ankara.

Defendant Osman Bayraktar, the unofficial partner of the rental car owner defendant Mustafa Uzunlar, also stated that he did not accept the accusations and said, "Since I am not constantly at the parking lot, I don't know exactly who comes and goes. I didn't meet with anyone, I don't even know if the vehicle was rented or not. Mustafa doesn't ask me when renting a vehicle. I have no information about what they took the vehicle for."

Doğukan Çep, who clearly stated at the hearing that he was the instigator of the Sinan Ateş murder, said that he knew Mustafa Uzunlar and that he lied to Uzunlar and asked for the vehicle for Eray Özyağcı to go to Ankara for a short time. On that day, the special operations police officers being tried in the case, Doğukan Çep, and Eray Özyağcı went to the place where the vehicle was.

ZEKERİYA ASARKAYA

Zekeriya Asarkaya, one of the released defendants, was the person who hid the gunman Eray Özyağcı and Vedat Balkaya, who used the motorcycle that smuggled the gunman, in his house in Ankara.

Zekeriya Asarkaya, one of the detained defendants being tried for aiding the crime of "premeditated murder in participation, collectively against Sinan Ateş," made his defense. Detained defendant Zekeriya Asarkaya, who started his defense by saying, "First of all, I offer my condolences to Sinan Ateş's family. I feel very bad for being involved in such a thing, even if unwillingly. I do not accept any of the accusations against me," said the following:

"I know Hakan Saraç from prison. He asked me if I could host a few of his friends in Ankara. I said okay for the sake of our friendship. I didn't know these things would happen. When they detained me, they took me to the interrogation room, stripped me naked, hit my head. They made me give a statement in a hurry. I am lying in prison innocently. I only know Hakan Saraç, I don't know anyone else. I was used, I was used without my knowledge. I request my release. I am a COPD patient. My illness is progressing.”

HAKAN SARAÇ

Hakan Saraç, one of the released defendants, was the person who found Zekeriya Asarkaya, who hid the gunman Eray Özyağcı and Vedat Balkaya, who used the motorcycle that smuggled the gunman, in his house in Ankara.

Hakan Saraç explained the following in his defense at the hearing: “I had been in prison for 16 years. I had come out of prison on coronavirus leave. I came here before 2 months had passed. Osman Bayraktar is my friend from prison. Suat Kurt called me and said he needed a place to stay for a few days, that he was sick, and that he didn't have the money to stay in a hotel. I called uncle Zekeriya Asarkaya. The story consists of this, my involvement is only this much. I heard the name of the late Sinan Ateş in prison. I also offer my condolences to his wife. I have no involvement. I am sick. I have paid the price for the mistake I made at a young age. I am a person who doesn't want to be away from my family for even a single minute anymore, why would I get involved in such a thing.”

MEHMET YÜCE

The released defendant Mehmet Yüce was the shop owner who sold the motorcycle to the gunman Eray Özyağcı and Vedat Balkaya, who used the motorcycle that smuggled the gunman.

Mehmet Yüce's lawyer, Duran Göçer, said, “Like many defendants in the file, it is not even known why my client was arrested. My client is a person who owns a shop that sells motorcycles and motor vehicles. He put the Ducati brand motorcycle up for sale on many platforms. Vedat Balkaya reached him in this way. We are facing a file where my client does not know that a motorcycle sale he made would take 18 months of his life. When looking at my client's file, there is no issue that would make him a defendant, and despite this, he is staying in a single-person cell. We request his release and acquittal.”

ALPER ATAY

It was alleged that Alper Atay, one of the defendants released at the hearing, arranged the hotel where Doğukan Çep, who clearly stated at the hearing that he was the instigator of the Sinan Ateş murder, stayed.

Alper Atay's lawyer, Engin Çelebi, who is being tried on charges of 'aiding premeditated murder,' explained that his client spent New Year's Eve at the hotel where Doğukan Çep was staying. Stating that the hotel owner Gökhan Türkmen made untrue statements and claimed that his client asked for a room for Doğukan Çep and paid for it, Çelebi stated that these statements of Türkmen were denied by witnesses. The court president, who announced that the statements of the 22 defendant lawyers were completed, said that the plaintiff side would be heard.

News Source: 12punto