3 more arrested in murder of nationalist group’s former head

ANKARA

Three more suspects have been arrested in the investigation launched into the assassination of the former head of the ultra-nationalist group, Grey Wolves, bringing the total number to six.

Two attackers on a motorcycle had shot Sinan Ateş, an academic from Hacettepe University, in the head as he was leaving a building in the capital Ankara last week. Ateş, seriously injured, could not be saved despite all the interventions in the hospital.

Vedat Balkaya, who were riding the motorcycle, Hakan Saraç and Zekeriya A., among the 18 suspects detained within the scope of the investigation opened by the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, were arrested on the charge of “killing by design.”

The alleged shooter Eray Ö. and Doğukan C., nick-named Dodo, claimed to be related to him, have still not been caught.

“Eray Ö. said to me, ‘I have a foe, let’s go to Ankara.’ On the day of the incident, he said, ‘I have a small job, wait for me ahead.’ Then I heard gunshots. I took Eray and drove away,” Balkaya said during the judge’s questioning.

The Grey Wolves, officially known by the name Idealist Hearths, or Ülkü Ocakları in Turkish, is a far-right youth organization and political movement affiliated with the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

Four suspects, including Ufuk Köktürk, who was in the former Istanbul administration of the MHP, were referred to the courthouse. Köktürk, M.U. and M.Y. were arrested on the charge of “deliberate killing by design,” while a travel ban was applied to E.U. freed by the court.

Criticizing the MHP over the assassination at his party’s group meeting at the parliament on Jan. 3, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said, “They will not be able to ignore this murder, they will not be able to pass it off in silence.”

“If we have remained silent, it is because we want to prevent the carriage of wood to the fire of the renegades, traitors and sinners who boil the cauldron of strife... Sometimes you have to know how to be patient... Time will show that the MHP is right in its case and consistent policies,” Semih Yalçın, the party’s deputy chair, said in a written statement.

The organization’s members deny its political nature and claim it to be a cultural and educational foundation, as its full official name is Idealist Clubs Educational and Cultural Foundation.