Authorities detain 14 suspects over brutal murder in Konya

KONYA

Turkish authorities have detained 14 suspects in relation to the ruthless murder of seven members of a family by armed assailants in the Central Anatolian province of Konya’s Meram district.

Seven people, including women and children, from the Dedeoğulları family were killed at their house in a brutal gun attack on July 30.

After the murders, assailants also tried to burn down the house, according to reports.

A statement from the Konya Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said that initial evidence pointed to an ongoing fight between two families who lived in the same settlement.

The prosecutor’s office said that enmity between the two families dates back to 2010.

Details of the investigation also revealed that the perpetrators had had previous arguments about kittens living in the neighborhood with slain family member Yaşar Dedeoğulları.

The conflict between the families led to criminal investigations in 2021, in which two people remained in custody but were released several weeks ago.

The statement rejected the claim of a racially motivated attack since it was labeled as so on social media due to the fact that the deceased family members were of Kurdish ethnicity.

Calling the crime “cruel” in a statement he made on July 31, Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu said that the years-long feud between different families was the cause of the violence and that the murders were not committed with a racial motive.

Video footage from the crime scene shows the moments before the brutal murder and how the massacre took place.

The footage shows that the main suspect of the massacre is Mehmet Altun, a relative of Lütfi Keleş who had seriously injured the members of the Dedeoğulları family in the previous attack in May.

The efforts of the law enforcement force to capture Altun are ongoing.