Turkish court acquits 3 in police murder case in Turkey’s Şanlıurfa
ŞANLIURFA
The Şanlıurfa 2nd Criminal Court, in the fifth session of the case, also ruled for the continuation of imprisonment for four other suspects.
One of the suspects’ lawyers, Eyyüp Sabri Tınaş, reportedly demanded that an investigation should be launched into police officer Burak Koru, who was identified to be together with the killed policemen on the evening of the murder incident.
Police officers Feyyaz Yumuşak and Okan Acar, aged 24 and 25, were found dead with gunshot wounds to the head in their shared flat on July 22, 2015 in Ceylanpınar, which is on the border with Syria.
The slain officers were reported to have worked in the anti-terror and riot police sections of the local force.
The outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) previously claimed responsibility for the attack on the police officers, saying it was as retaliation for a suicide bombing attack claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) on July 20, 2015 in the Suruç district. But, the group’s claim was later retracted.
The PKK initially said in a statement on one of its websites that the two police officers were killed for “collaborating with Daesh [ISIL] gangs.”
The incident in Ceylanpınar was cited as a reason by the government to terminate its peace process with the PKK.