Suspected killer in Musa Anter’s death captured

ŞIRNAK

Prominent Kurdish author Musa Anter (C) was killed in 1992 while in Diyarbakır. Anter’s murder case will be extended for 10 more years due to the new development. Hürriyet photo

The man suspected of murdering Kurdish author Musa Anter was caught by police in the southeastern province of Şırnak on June 29, 20 years after the murder took place.

Anter was killed in an armed attack in 1992. The prime suspect, Hamit Yıldırım, was photographed recently for the first time in Şırnak by daily Sabah. Yıldırım, who had not changed his identity, was taken to Diyarbakır for interrogation after being taken into custody.

Anter’s murder case, which would have been dropped due to the statute of limitations in three months, will be extended for 10 more years due to the new development.

One of the darkest unsolved murders in Turkey’s history, Anter’s killing took place in the southeastern province Diyarbakır in 1992. Another author, Orhan Miroğlu, was also seriously wounded in the attack.

Miroğlu, who miraculously survived the armed attack despite serious injuries, was also able to identify the suspect from photographs taken 20 years ago. Inspecting the old and new photos of the suspect, Miroğlu said the person in the old photos looked very much like the hit man.

 “I saw him for a short time, but the image that remained in my mind of the bad memory of that night is very close to that photo. The person who killed Musa Anter and who shot me is very likely to be this person,” he said.

There was a criminal file on the suspect, but he had not been caught for the last 20 years, Diyarbakır Bar head Mehmet Emin Aktar said. “The case should not only [prosecute] the gunman, but [should be investigated] as a whole,” he said. “Who killed Musa Anter and why? This should be investigated.”

Case reopens

The acting specially authorized public prosecutor of Diyarbakır reopened the Anter file in light of the recently disclosed documents and information.

Because of the detention of Yıldırım, the statute of limitations for the case was extended from 20 years to 30 years, minimizing the risk of the case being dropped.

The alleged hit man in the 1992 murder was identified through an informant, Abdülkadir Aygan, who lives in Stockholm and who first identified Yıldırım from photos dating from 1991.