11.06.2026 16:31
In the case regarding the death of police officer Melih Okan Keskin, who was beaten by 30 people in a fight at a vehicle inspection station in Ankara and later died from a brain hemorrhage, a striking development occurred. While defendant Murat Yıldırım, who was on trial in custody, was released, Keskin's family reacted to the decision. The court ordered the continuation of the current status of the other defendants and adjourned the hearing to September 30.
There has been a new development in the case regarding the death of police officer Melih Okan Keskin, who was beaten by employees at a vehicle inspection station in Ankara and died of a brain hemorrhage. In the trial where 4 defendants, 2 of whom are detained, are being tried, detained defendant Murat Yıldırım was released.
The hearing at the Ankara 12th Heavy Penal Court was attended by non-custodial defendants Rahman Görfidan and Yiğitcan Karlar, detained defendants Murat Yıldırım and Saruhan Atasoy, and the family of the deceased Keskin. After identity verification and reading of the indictment summary, defenses were heard.
"I LEARNED ABOUT THE DEATH AFTER THE INCIDENT" Non-custodial defendant Rahman Görfidan, who works as a technician at the TÜVTÜRK vehicle inspection station, said, "On the day of the incident, the deceased came to me and said he had fixed the brake light. I directed him to my supervisor. I was carrying out checks on another vehicle. The deceased was asking my supervisor why his vehicle had failed the inspection. The deceased behaved aggressively and swore at my supervisor, Ms. Buket. Thinking the deceased would hit Ms. Buket, I intervened verbally and said, 'Why did you swear at a woman?' At that moment, Yiğitcan Karlar heard the commotion, came over, and stepped in, without touching the deceased. The deceased pushed us and said, 'Don't interfere.' Then the deceased grabbed my collar, and we went outside. At that point, other colleagues intervened and separated us. The deceased did not hit me. Afterwards, the deceased headed to his vehicle and said to us, 'Pray that I don't have a gun with me.' At that moment, I realized the deceased was a police officer. Then I returned to my work. I was not present during the scuffle. I was unaware of what happened. I only learned about the death after the incident. My aim was to prevent the events. There was no physical contact from me."
"I ONLY TRIED TO SEPARATE THEM, THERE WAS NO CONTACT" In response to the defendant's statements, the court president stated that in the video recordings of the incident, the deceased did not push defendant Rahman and did not retaliate in any way.
Non-custodial defendant Yiğitcan Karlar said, "On the day of the incident, I tried to separate Rahman Görfidan and the deceased. It continued outside. After they were separated, the deceased turned to us and swore. I only wanted to separate the deceased from Rahman; there was no contact."
"I DID NOT HIT THE DECEASED EITHER" Detained defendant Murat Yıldırım said, "On the day of the incident, it was close to the end of the shift. I heard loud shouts. He was swearing at all TÜVTÜRK employees. I intervened to prevent any altercation. During the scuffle, I was also thrown backwards. I do not accept the accusations. I did not see anyone hit the deceased. I did not hit the deceased either."
Detained defendant Saruhan Atasoy stated that he was working as a technician on the first line during the incident and witnessed an argument between his supervisor and the deceased.
"I THREW A PUNCH, I HAD NO INTENT TO KILL"
Defendant Atasoy, who claimed he only overheard the incident and that the deceased was swearing profanely, stated, "I was dealing with a vehicle. I did not see the deceased being taken outside. Then there was a scuffle outside. I went to the area of the commotion. I did not see anyone hit the deceased. Our supervisors told us to go inside, and the automatic doors were closed. I continued with my work. I had a vehicle I was inspecting, which had passed the inspection. I took it outside to hand it over. There was someone in a white t-shirt in front of me. I did not know this person was the deceased Keskin. I honked three times. I moved forward slowly, thinking I would not hit the deceased. As I was getting out of the vehicle, the deceased said, 'Are you going to run me over?' and swore profanely. In a moment of anger, I swung a punch, which hit the lower left jaw area. I threw the punch because of the swearing; I had no intent to kill."
"EVEN IF HE SWORE, THE RESPONSE SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN DEATH" The wife of police officer Melih Okan Keskin, Emel Keskin, said in her statement, "On the day of the incident, my husband called me and said there was a fight, that 20-30 people attacked him, and then he was at the hospital. I went to him; they said he had a brain hemorrhage and would undergo surgery. He was conscious and told me everything. He said he went to the inspection station, saw that the light was not on when he entered, but when he started his vehicle, the light came on. He said when he asked for the supervisor, they directed him to a woman, and he explained the situation there. I asked, 'What did you do?' He said, 'I did nothing.' He didn't remember the punch incident at all. I don't think he would have sworn repeatedly as they claim. His clothes were covered in blood, and the vehicle inspection documents also had blood on them. It upset him greatly that the police who came did not attend to him. Even if he swore, the response should not have been death. I am filing complaints against all defendants."
ONE DEFENDANT RELEASED After the statements, the public prosecutor requested that the defendants' current status be maintained. In response, the non-custodial defendants requested the removal of their judicial control measures. The detained defendant, stating they were in financial difficulty, requested their release.
Announcing its interim decision, the court ordered the release of detained defendant Murat Yıldırım. The court decided to maintain the current status of the other defendants and adjourned the hearing until September 30.