5 receive aggravated life sentences for murder of ex-nationalist leader

ANKARA

Sinan Ateş's mother, Saniye Ateş, burst into tears after a person attacked Sinan Ateş's sister, Selma Ateş Kazanç with a punch during yesterday's hearing of the trial regarding her son's murder.

An Ankara court has sentenced five people, including the shooter and the instigators, to aggravated life imprisonment for the murder of Sinan Ateş, the former head of ultra-nationalist group the Grey Wolves.

The incident occurred on Dec. 30, 2022, when Ateş was fatally shot by gunman Eray Özyağcı as he left his office in the capital’s Çukurambar quarter.

The murder and subsequent interrogation have garnered extensive media coverage, with the inaugural hearing held in July.

In the final trial on Oct. 2, The assassin, Özyağcı, received an aggravated life sentence for the murder, with the court opting not to reduce his sentence under any mitigating circumstances.

His accomplice, Vedat Balkaya, who facilitated Özyağcı's escape from the crime scene via motorcycle, was likewise handed the same sentence.

Two instigators, Doğukan Çep and Tolgahan Demirbaş, along with another suspect identified as having conducted surveillance in front of Ateş’s office prior to the assassination, were also sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment.

Moreover, former police officers Aşkın Mert Gelenbey and Murat Can Çolak, who transported the gunman from Istanbul to Ankara ahead of the killing, were each sentenced to 18 years in prison for their roles in the crime.

Additionally, the court acquitted 10 defendants.

During the recess, an assailant struck Sinan Ateş's sister, Selma Ateş Kazanç, with a punch in the cafeteria area. The attacker, Kılıç, was detained by security forces, while medical personnel attended to Kazanç, who sustained minor injuries.

In an earlier statement, the gunman asserted that a financial dispute between one of the instigators, Çep, and Ateş had prompted him to give instructions to shoot Ateş in the legs. Çep claimed that the incident was not a political case.

Amid widespread assertions that the murder was politically driven, critics decried the one-year delay in preparing the indictment.