Sinan Ateş's sister Selma Ateş speaks to 12punto: 'We noticed them looking at their lawyers for signals when they got stuck'

Following the indictment for the murder of former Ülkü Ocakları President Sinan Ateş, which was accepted after 18 months, the trial of 22 defendants began in Ankara on July 1.

Selma Ateş, a guest on the '12'den' program with veteran journalist Tuncay Mollaveisoğlu, made striking statements.

In response to Mollaveisoğlu's question, "Ms. Selma, how do you evaluate the statements made so far? Because when we look at the statements of the defendants in the case, it is as if we are watching a play prepared behind the scenes. Doğukan Çep took all the blame upon himself and made statements as if this were a common criminal case, severing its political connections. How do you evaluate this?" Selma Ateş replied as follows:

'THEY GAVE A JOINT STATEMENT'

"Yes, we actually need to summarize the first day like this: they literally made a mockery of the Turkish judiciary. They denied all their previous statements. They claimed that all the statements they had given were made under duress, that the police had tortured them, that the prosecutors had used force and threats against them, and that they had been under such heavy pressure. As a result, they actually gave a joint statement.

We have now heard from 8 detainees. If we count those heard today, the statements to be given by the 22 detainees are actually no different from one another. In this process, the statements of Tolgahan Demirbaş, Eray Özyağcılar, Doğukan Çep, Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, and the others are all actually the same.

None of what they said on the first day matches. The men say they don't know each other, but three men who supposedly don't know each other—Suat Kurt, Eray Özyağcı, and Aşkın Mert Gelenbey—stay in the same house, and none of them know why they stayed in that house."

'WE NOTICED THEM RECEIVING SIGNALS'

"They say they had trouble with the statements they gave. Tolgahan Demirbaş says, 'I have been staying in a single cell for 18 months,' but then he says in his statements, 'I read the indictment inside.' Friend, aren't you in a single-person cell? How were all these men brought together and spoken to so that they all gave the same statement? Look, we noticed that when they got stuck, they looked at their lawyers and received signals. The comfort of these men, the comfort of Doğukan Çep... His intimidation of journalists makes us ask the question, 'Who gives you this power?'"

CONTRADICTORY STATEMENTS

"The men are implying, 'We murdered Sinan Ateş and no one can hold us accountable.' What we experienced in the first day of the trial is truly very interesting. Tolgahan Demirbaş says, 'I am separated from my wife, I took my child with me to spend the new year together.'

Five minutes pass and he says, 'We are going from Ankara to Istanbul for the new year celebration.' We are actually uncovering the lies in their own statements. But how did you bring these 22 detainees together, or rather, one needs to look at who visited them. Whoever visited them, they are all using the same sentences. None of them use sentences different from the others. Whenever they get cornered, they say, 'I don't remember, I forgot, if I did such a thing, I am the lowest scoundrel.'

Doğukan Çep says, 'I have a confirmed conviction. I asked Sinan Ateş for help because of a confirmed conviction,' he says. 'I did this because he didn't help,' he says. When you think about it, I am not a lawyer, but who can intervene in a confirmed conviction? No one. The comfortable attitude of the men was very disturbing."

'WHERE CAN A MAN WHO DOESN'T HAVE 500 LIRA FIND 600 THOUSAND LIRA?'

In response to Mollaveisoğlu's question, "It was a difficult day for you too, wasn't it? You also saw this hitman for the first time, didn't you?" Selma Ateş replied:

"Of course, believe me, I looked at the faces of those 22 people one by one, their facial expressions, their movements. Because they sent the videos of my brother's moment of death, they have become such an organized crime syndicate; so many men come together, they murder my brother, they film it while murdering him, and these videos fall into our hands. Can you imagine? You are watching your brother being murdered moment by moment.

Sinan Ateş is an academic, what business would he have with you? Tolgahan Demirbaş says, 'I don't have 500 lira in my pocket, I gave 600,000 TL to Sinan Ateş for my case.' Well, you didn't have any money, did you? Where can a man who doesn't have 500 lira in his pocket find 600,000 lira?"

'THEY ARE THREATENING MY 13-YEAR-OLD CHILD'

"Tolgahan Demirbaş, Eray Özyağcı, Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, they all have a meeting point with the vehicle. Today, when we came to Ankara, none of us were directed onto a dirt road when we opened the navigation. Tolgahan Demirbaş, Eray Özyağcı, and Aşkın Mert Gelenbey are able to enter a dirt road.

When you ask them about these, they say, 'I don't know that friend, I have no information on this subject, or I forgot about this subject.'

He tells the things he wants to tell hour by hour, second by second. Look, for 18 months we said, 'We have no business with any institution, organization, or community.' We are not attacking any institution; we said we have no business with corporate identities, but of course, we have business with the people who have infiltrated those corporate identities.

When you look at it, who are the people who have supported or made efforts for the nationalist (Ülkücü) community? It is us.

Weren't my father, my mother, my grandfather, my brother nationalists? Weren't we nationalists? Can you imagine, they are still threatening my 13-year-old child?"

ÇAĞRI ÜNEL CONTRADICTION

"Well, why did you ask for Sinan Ateş's location information? Why did you ask for his wife's location information? Why did the friends in the community threaten us?

Tolgahan Demirbaş says, 'We asked for Sinan Ateş's location to hang a banner.' Why were you going to hang a banner? He is actually going to hang a banner regarding the Mersin incident, the Çağrı Ünel incident. But he falls into a contradiction again.

They carry out the Çağrı Ünel incident on March 15. They ask for location information on March 10. Then what kind of mechanism did you set up?

Tolgahan Demirbaş says, 'There is a system, you enter the license plate into that system, and the location information of the person you want comes out. You enter it into the phone, and the location information comes out,' he says.

There are many lies, Ms. Selma, it is very obvious. Even the hitman himself implied, 'Well, I actually shot at his feet, but I guess someone else killed him.' So, statements that truly mock human intelligence are being made, but the judge didn't take it much into account.

The judge already caught their lies. He emphasized it repeatedly. He says, 'I intentionally shot at his feet.' Well, there are 46 bullets. What were you going to do with these 46 bullets? Were you going to put on a show?"

'THEY MOCKED THE TURKISH JUDICIARY'

"They get all the location and address information from Aşkın Mert Gelenbey.

Then Aşkın Mert Gelenbey says, 'I don't know them.' Then Aşkın Mert Gelenbey comes to Ankara. He wants to see his brother, he drinks alcohol while coming on the road. For some reason, he doesn't get stopped at any checkpoint.

Gelenbey says, 'Eray Özyağcı was my childhood friend, I wasn't seeing him at all.' When the Judge asks, 'Do you know the person nicknamed 'Dodol', Doğukan Çep?', he says, 'I don't know him.'

To the Judge's words, 'He is registered in your phone,' he says, 'Since Eray called me frequently from different phones, I save the name of the person who appears on WhatsApp.' You say you don't see Eray, you say you are childhood friends. In fact, they refuted their own statements. In short, they mocked the Turkish judiciary."

'WE MADE EYE CONTACT...'

While Mollaveisoğlu commented, "It is clear that they are trying to dilute the case," in response to the question, "Did you make eye contact with the murder suspect when you went to the courtroom?" Selma Ateş said, "Believe me, I didn't take my eyes off any of them. I went wearing my brother's t-shirt. They probably saw that too. Were they uncomfortable? If they were, they wouldn't have been able to move so comfortably. They moved so comfortably that an impression emerged as if we were the ones guilty of Sinan's death. The comfort of the men disturbed us excessively. We made eye contact, and they all looked away."

Selma Ateş continued her words:

"They all keep coming out and continuing to lie so comfortably. While continuing their lies, they also involve religion. They say, 'We pray five times a day.' They ask, 'Where did you meet?', they answer, 'In prison.' There isn't a single one without a criminal record. Doğukan Çep is wanted for 39 crimes."

'I HOPE MY BROTHER'S MURDER WILL BE SOLVED'

Finally, as Mollaveisoğlu asked, "So there is a protective shield, right? Well, when you look at the process from now on, we think the case is political and we see it that way. Because your brother was not just an Associate Professor or an academic. He was an ambitious name in politics, in the nationalist community, he was a name with a bright future. Therefore, when we look at the reason for his murder, he probably wasn't killed because he was a professor at a university. It is seen that such a murder was committed as a result of a political case, a political fight. When you look at this picture, was a murder committed to block your brother's path? How do you see it?" Selma Ateş concluded her words:

"Sinan Ateş was an educated and academic child, and his path was clear. Who blocked his path? What did Sinan know? Why was he killed? I think there are people who will provide the answers to these questions in the coming times. I hope my brother's murder will be solved."

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News Source: 12punto