Ayşe Ateş pointed to a single name after the suspicious meeting.

10.02.2025 11:51

In the investigation of the murder of Sinan Ateş, Ayşe Ateş reacted to the emergence of footage showing Serdar Öktem, a detained MHP lawyer at the time, and Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, the suspect in the case and the President of the Ülkü Ocakları, being at the same hospital at the same time. She stated, "We still claim that Serdar Öktem is the key figure in this political murder and the person who is most feared to speak."

During the investigation into the murder of Sinan Ateş, it was revealed that MHP lawyer Serdar Öktem, who is in custody, was at the same hospital at the same time as the suspect of the case, Ülkü Ocakları General President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım. The Ateş family's lawyers announced that they would file a criminal complaint against the authorities, claiming that this meeting was planned in advance. The lawyers also included hospital footage in their objection to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's decision to not pursue charges against 22 individuals, including Yıldırım.

THEY WERE RECORDED IN THE SAME PLACE

The footage shows Öktem being taken to Etlik City Hospital on July 4, 2023, and about 3 hours later, Yıldırım arriving at the same hospital and entering the area where Öktem was located. It also captures moments when the prison guard who brought Öktem spoke with someone in the hospital garden.

"SERDAR ÖKTEM IS THE KEY NAME IN THIS MURDER"

After the footage was revealed, Ayşe Ateş, the wife of Sinan Ateş, reacted on her X account:

"Serdar Öktem, who lost his memory when he was detained, suffered a heart spasm after being arrested. 'Coincidentally!' Ülkü Ocakları General President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım arrives at the hospital he was taken to, and it is written in the news text afterwards. We again assert that Serdar Öktem is the key name in this political murder and is the person most feared to speak. All ongoing work in the judiciary is aimed at acquitting this individual, who is being tried without detention. The reason for not being able to access the information on his phone for 2 years is also this. A penetration criminal organization has trampled on the law and is suppressing it from above so that justice does not rise. One day, justice will rise to the skies on the shoulders of good people. We have full faith in this."

FOOTAGE WAS ADDED TO THE OBJECTION PETITION

A decision of non-prosecution had been issued in the investigation regarding 22 individuals, including former MHP deputy Olcay Kılavuz and Ülkü Ocakları General President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, for the crimes of "intentional murder" and "instigation to intentional murder." The lawyers of the Sinan Ateş family objected to the non-prosecution decision.

The objection included footage showing that on July 4, 2023, the day Serdar Öktem, who was arrested after the assassination of Sinan Ateş, was taken to Etlik City Hospital due to a "heart spasm," Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım also arrived at the same hospital.

In the footage obtained by ANKA News Agency, it is seen that at 15:46 on July 4, 2023, Öktem entered the hospital with the staff, and he was taken to the examination area known as the 'yellow area.' It was also determined that at 18:28, Ülkü Ocakları General President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım entered the hospital with someone next to him and headed towards the area where Öktem was located. The footage also shows that at 20:34, the suspect Yıldırım was waiting in the hospital garden with the people next to him and was seen talking to one of the prison guards who brought Öktem from prison.

"ÖKTEM WAS PROMISED RELEASE"

The lawyers of the Ateş family requested in their objection petition that the non-prosecution decision regarding the 22 suspects, including Yıldırım, be lifted and that an indictment be prepared to initiate a public case against the suspects. The footage from the hospital was also presented as evidence in the objection petition.

The petition stated, "On July 4, 2023, during his detention, the suspect Serdar Öktem, who was initially taken to the infirmary in prison with a diagnosis of heart spasm, was later transferred to Etlik City Hospital. Shortly after Öktem was placed under observation in the yellow area, a large delegation, including high-ranking officials, visited him along with Ülkü Ocakları General President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım. It is not difficult to guess the content of the conversations between suspect Serdar Öktem and suspect Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, as it is clear that he was promised to remain silent and that his release would be arranged shortly."

"CRIMINAL COMPLAINTS WILL BE FILED AGAINST INFORMANTS"

The objection pointed out that there was a confidentiality order on the case file at that time and questioned how Yıldırım obtained the information that Öktem was taken to the hospital. The petition stated, "Those who provided the information that Serdar Öktem was taken to Etlik City Hospital, the personnel who accompanied him while being taken to the hospital, the officials who facilitated his release from prison, and everyone involved in this incident, including the prison guard who provided information in the hospital and was captured in the footage talking in the hospital garden, will be criminally complained against, and necessary legal applications will be made to initiate both judicial and administrative investigations against them. We hope that it will become clear through the applications whether there is a medical condition or if Serdar Öktem was transferred to the hospital under the pretext of having a heart spasm, thus allowing him to meet with individuals with whom he could not meet while in custody."

"THESE INDIVIDUALS' STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN SOUGHT"

Additionally, the objection highlighted that many MHP members had not even been questioned, stating:

"The former MHP deputy Olcay Kılavuz, who was caught alongside suspect Tolgahan Demirbaş and mentioned in the statements of many witnesses and complainants as among the perpetrators of the act, Ülkü Ocakları General President Ahmet Yiğit Yıldırım, who gave the order for the act to be carried out, and Ülkü Ocakları Ankara Provincial President Ömer Şanlı, among others, have not provided statements in the case file."

The common point of these individuals is that they are political figures within the same community. The issue we find difficult to understand is the fundamental motive behind the fact that, despite the existence of an organized assassination and the names of the suspects being included in the case file, with multiple reports made against them, these individuals have not even been called to give statements. It may be difficult to prove, but even if it touches upon political figures, the competent authorities should reveal all the truths and make decisions by evaluating all the conditions of the case. At least, we know that this is how it is in contemporary countries.