Convicted ex-police officer killed in Istanbul gunfight

ISTANBUL

An ex-police officer convicted in the notorious Susurluk trials, a case involving an illegal organization accused of extrajudicial murders in the 1990s, has been shot down along with a former colleague at a luxury restaurant in Istanbul’s Kadıköy district.

Ziya Bandırmalıoğlu, a former special operations police officer, was killed when a gunfight erupted between two groups at a restaurant in Kalamış Marina. Şahin Aslan, another former police officer, was also killed while five others were wounded.

Seven people were detained following the incident, and the efforts of security forces to apprehend two people are ongoing, according to Demirören News Agency.

Bandırmalıoğlu was among the 19 suspects being tried in two significant unsolved extrajudicial murders cases, known as the “Susurluk Gang” case and the “JİTEM” case in Turkey’s recent history.

He was convicted of “forming an armed organization” alongside other crimes and was sentenced to four years in prison in 2001.