Podcast5 defendants receive aggravated life sentences in murder of former Grey Wolves head Sinan Ateş
A Turkish court has sentenced five defendants to aggravated life in prison, including the shooter, in the case of former Grey Wolves (“Ülkü Ocakları”) head Sinan Ateş who was assassinated in 2022. Six other suspects also received jail sentences for “assisting.”
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An Ankara court on Oct. 2 sentenced five defendants to aggravated life in prison for the assassination of former Grey Wolves (“Ülkü Ocakları”) head Sinan Ateş.
Ateş was assassinated by two people on a motorcycle while leaving a building on Dec. 30, 2022, in the capital Ankara. His family has been accusing far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) seniors of the murder. The Grey Wolves, operating inside Turkey for decades, is regarded as the armed wing of the MHP.
The suspects who received life sentences include the shooter Eray Özyağcı, Vedat Balkaya who rode the motorcycle to escape from the crime scene, and Suat Kurt who did scouting before the murder.
Doğukan Çep, accused of instigating, also received an aggravated life sentence for “intentional killing by design” and Tolgahan Demirbaş for “abetting intentional killing by design.” Demirbaş is a former executive in the Grey Wolves.
The shooter Özyağcı previously said he shot Ateş at the request of Doğukan Çep. It was also claimed that Tolgahan Demirbaş had been searching for Sinan Ateş's address information and had asked for information about Sinan Ateş from the police, the national intelligence executives, and public officials.
He also allegedly kidnapped Özyağcı after the murder and took him to the house of then-MHP MP Olcay Kılavuz.
The court also sentenced defendants Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, Murat Can Çolak, and Emre Yüksel to 18 years in prison each and Mustafa Uzunlar to 15 years for “assisting premeditated murder” and defendant Alper Atay to two years in prison for “favoring the guilty.”
Selman Bozkurt was also sentenced to 13 years for “attempted intentional killing.” He was wounded in the shoulder during the attack against Ateş.
The court acquitted 10 other defendants.
On the other hand, the court decided to separate the case file against defendants Serdar Öktem and Mustafa Ensar Aykal on the charge of “assisting premeditated murder” and another file against Aykal on the charge of “unlawfully obtaining and disseminating personal data.”
Öktem is a lawyer in the MHP, whereas Aykal is a police officer.
Meanwhile, one person attacked Sinan Ateş's sister Selma Ateş during a break in the trial. The attacker was later detained.
Ateş family has been frequently targeted by the MHP figures, including MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli, during the trial.
Most recently, Bahçeli said on Oct. 1 that “It will never be befitting for a lady to speak into a microphone regardless of her age, to be a figurehead of political incitement and a remote-controlled game,” referring to Sinan Ateş’s wife Ayşe Ateş.
The Ateş family has been accusing İzzet Ulvi Yönter, Semih Yalçın, Olcay Kılavuz, and Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım of instructing the murder.
İzzet Ulvi Yönter has been an MHP MP for four terms, whereas Semih Yalçın is the deputy leader of the MHP. Olcay Kılavuz was an MHP MP at the time, reportedly involved in the case. Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım is the current head of the Grey Wolves.
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