What Sinan Ateş and Doğukan Çep discussed at the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque

Caner Taşpınar / 12punto.com.tr

Former Ülkü Ocakları President and Hacettepe University faculty member Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Ateş lost his life as a result of an armed attack he was subjected to in Ankara on December 30, 2022.

The 22 defendants processed in relation to the murder began to be tried on July 1, 2024, on charges of "premeditated murder," "attempted murder," "incitement to commit a crime," and "aiding and abetting a crime." 

During the hearing, Doğukan Çep, one of the defendants who admitted to being an instigator, said that while he was praying at the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque in Istanbul in 2019, Sinan Ateş arrived and prayed as well. Doğukan Çep described the meeting at the mosque as follows: 

“Afterward, I went to him and asked, ‘I have an investigation, can you help?’ and he said, ‘Okay, brother.’ He said, ‘Brother, well done, you have realized what we dreamed of.’ He said, ‘They are asking for 1 million TL, they will handle your file.’ Then I said, ‘I cannot afford this.’ He said, ‘Try to arrange 200 thousand TL then, they will handle it.’ I gathered this, and afterward, Sinan Ateş called me to a hotel in Taksim; I delivered the money to him there and started waiting to see if there was any development regarding my file. In 2021, he said, ‘We need to give another 200 thousand TL, this time to someone else.’ I arranged this as well. He called me to the Üsküdar waterfront afterward, I gave the money there, and he told me, ‘Be patient, this is a long-term job.’ In November, he asked me for the rest of the money and said, ‘We are nearing the end.’”

Doğukan Çep claimed that he gave a total of 650 thousand TL to Sinan Ateş, that his file was not resolved, and that he thought he had "swindled" his money, leading him to "want to shoot him in the legs." 

Following Doğukan Çep's cross-examination at the hearing, defense attorneys submitted a photograph taken at the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque as evidence to the file. 

In this photograph that entered the file, Doğukan Çep was visible among the crowd behind Sinan Ateş. 

So, what did Sinan Ateş and Doğukan Çep talk about at the Aziz Mahmud Hüdayi Mosque?

12Punto heard the details of that meeting from a witness who had served at that mosque years ago. 

The photograph in which Sinan Ateş and Doğukan Çep appear in the same frame was taken on March 8, 2019. 

Doğukan Çep was among the team distributing soup at that mosque. 

At that time, Doğukan Çep also had an active arrest warrant due to a murder he was involved in. 

Stating that Doğukan Çep approached Sinan Ateş while he was at the mosque, the witness recounted the dialogue as follows: 

Doğukan Çep: Brother, if there is anyone you want killed, I will kill them.

Sinan Ateş: Get this away from me, he is like a ticking time bomb.

WHO WAS IN THAT FRAME

On the day the photo was taken, Sinan Ateş was accompanied by his aides Aşkın Dinçer and Aybars Köse. Additionally, former Istanbul Ülkü Ocakları President Kazım Erdi Aktunç was also in the frame. 

Ömer Şanlı, who served as Deputy Chairman of the Ülkü Ocakları, as well as Deniz Güzelay and Kadir Ensar Ejder, were also in the same frame.

News Source: 12punto