Suspect of leftist protester’s killing admits shooting, denies murder

ISTANBUL - Radikal

Some 14 alleged drug dealer gang members, who are accused of “intentional homicide, using violence and force and deliberate wounding and pillaging,” were arrested after Hasan Ferit Gedik’s murder. DHA photo

One of the arrested suspects in a leftist protester’s murder in Istanbul’s Gülsuyu neighborhood has admitted he fired a gun during clashes between drug dealers and leftist groups but denied killing the 21-year-old.

Hasan Ferit Gedik was shot dead on Sept. 30 after a number of people were raked with bullets while marching against the presence of drug dealers in the Anatolian-side neighborhood Gülsuyu.

One of the 14 detained suspects of the slaying, M.K., said he fired the gun he was carrying to protect himself without looking where he shot, rejecting the murder allegations against him, according to his testimony, which was obtained by daily Radikal.

“On the day of event, I heard the sounds at around 8.30 p.m. When I got out of the house, I saw the crowd marching to the square. There were four or five people walking behind the crowd. Two of them had masks on their face. One of them asked me, ‘What are you looking at, what’s up?’ Then the masked man shot at me. I threw myself to the ground. I was carrying weapons as our neighborhood is unsafe. I had a gun and a pump rifle with me. After firing the rifle three or four times, I began to run in the neighborhood. To make them stop chasing me, I shot backward without looking back,” he said.

Another arrestee, who is alleged to be the leader of the gang, M.T., also rejected the accusations against him and said he knew neither Gedik nor the other people wounded during the incidents.

He claimed M.K. told him that “some people known to be organizers came and fired guns and they responded to this attack.”

Some 14 alleged drug dealer gang members, who are accused of “intentional homicide, using violence and force and deliberate wounding and pillaging,” were arrested after Gedik’s murder.

Gedik’s murder was the latest in a series of violent incidents that have occurred in the neighborhood due to the ongoing conflict between drug dealers in the area and leftist groups, including the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) and the People’s Front, of which Gedik was also reported to be a member.

The leftist groups have been attempting to dislodge the drug dealers from the neighborhood, claiming that police are doing too little to crack down on crime rings in the area.