10.06.2026 10:40
A heartbreaking decision has been made regarding the assassination of Police Chief Ali Gaffar Okkan, who was martyred along with five police officers in Diyarbakır on January 24, 2001. The case against fugitive triggermen Haşim Alabalık and Murat Aktaş, principal perpetrators of the attack sought via a red notice for 25 years, has been dropped due to statute of limitations. As the suspects, never captured in a single day, have their files closed, the international arrest warrants have also been lifted.
In Diyarbakır, on January 24, 2001, a treacherous ambush resulted in the martyrdom of Police Chief Ali Gaffar Okkan along with 5 police officers. A heartbreaking development occurred in the case file: the trigger-pullers of the assassination, Haşim Alabalık and Murat Aktaş, who had been sought via red notice for 25 years, escaped punishment due to statute of limitations without spending a single day in custody. The court dismissed the case against the two suspects, lifted the arrest warrants, and completely closed the file.
25 YEARS ON THE RUN, REWARDED BY STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS
In the trial related to the assassination of Ali Gaffar Okkan, who left a mark on the city of Diyarbakır through his successful counter-terrorism efforts and the affectionate bond he established with the public, another legal loophole emerged. The case of Hizbullah trigger-pullers Haşim Alabalık and Murat Aktaş, who were among the primary perpetrators of the attack and had not been traced anywhere for a quarter of a century, was heard in the Heavy Penal Court.
The case file of the two suspects, who were sought via red notice as fugitives in absentia, was dismissed due to "statute of limitations," citing the expiration of legal time limits. The international arrest warrants for Alabalık and Aktaş were lifted, effectively paving the way for their freedom.
WHILE TRYING TO SOLVE THE UĞUR MUMCU ASSASSINATION...
The legendary chief Ali Gaffar Okkan, who served as the Diyarbakır Police Chief between 1997 and 2001, had a major professional goal: to find the killers of investigative journalist Uğur Mumcu, who was assassinated in a bomb attack in Ankara on January 24, 1993, and to shed light on the assassination. As a bitter twist of fate, exactly 8 years after Mumcu's death anniversary, on another January 24, around 17:40, Okkan, who had left his office heading to the Governor's building, was ambushed on Şehitlik Street, Sezai Karakoç Boulevard.
6 OF OUR POLICE WERE MARTYRED
In the official vehicle, which was caught in crossfire by terrorists wearing reflective vests marked "Police," Police Chief Ali Gaffar Okkan, along with police officers on duty;
- Mehmet Kamalı
- Sabri Kün
- Mehmet Sepetçi
- Atilla Durmuş
- Selahattin Baysoy fell as martyrs after heroically fighting.
HE WAS "FATHER GAFFAR" TO THE PEOPLE OF DİYARBAKIR
Throughout his tenure, Okkan walked the streets of Diyarbakır without protection, fearlessly tackling unsolved murders, and elevated the city's peace climate to its highest level. Together with colleagues and philanthropists, Okkan provided food supplies for needy families and covered educational expenses for students, forging unbreakable bonds with everyone in the city from 7 to 70. The fact that the killers of the legendary chief, whose memory is kept alive by naming hundreds of children born in the city after the assassination "Ali Gaffar," escaped justice due to statute of limitations has deeply wounded the public conscience.