06.11.2026 18:50
Striking details have emerged in the prosecutor's statement of Arif Sefa Özdemir, who was caught in Eskişehir after killing 8 people in Afyonkarahisar. It was learned that the attacker, who wanted to obtain a new weapon during his escape, introduced himself to the village headman in the village he went to as an official from Ankara, saying, "There is a complaint about you. I am coming from Ankara," and asked for his weapon. Özdemir, who stated that the headman rejected the request, said that after leaving the village he fled when he saw patrols.
The statement of the attacker Arif Sefa Özdemir, who was caught in the Seyitgazi district of Eskişehir after killing 8 people with a gun and wounding 1 person in Afyonkarahisar and then fleeing, has been obtained.
It has emerged that Özdemir, who changed vehicles several times while fleeing after the massacre, tried to get a gun from a village headman in Eskişehir.
HE ASKED THE VILLAGE HEADMAN FOR HIS GUN, SAYING 'I AM COMING FROM ANKARA'
Özdemir, who gave a statement to the prosecutor's office at the Afyonkarahisar Courthouse, recounted that he made a plan to obtain a new gun during his escape.
The attacker, stating that he entered a village while heading in the direction of Seyitgazi, said that he introduced himself to the village headman as an official coming from Ankara.
Özdemir stated that he asked the village headman for his gun by saying, “There is a complaint about you. I am coming from Ankara,” but the headman got angry and rejected this request.
The suspect, recounting that he saw patrol teams after leaving the village, stated that the vehicle he used while trying to escape got stuck in the mud.
'I LIKED THAT THEY THOUGHT I WAS A SOLDIER'
In the attacker's statement, what he said about the young people he encountered during his escape thinking he was a soldier also drew attention.
Özdemir used the following statements: “I saw a vehicle on the road. I approached the young people inside the vehicle. I said, 'Guys, are you drinking alcohol?' They said, 'No, commander.' I liked that they thought I was a soldier; I did not correct them. I said, 'We are looking for someone here,' and told them it was a problematic vehicle and that they should hand it over. I could not start the vehicle. After the vehicle owner described it to me, I took the vehicle and left.”
HE CITED A DEBT ISSUE AS THE REASON FOR THE FIRST THREE MURDERS
Özdemir claimed that there was a matter of money owed between him and Noman Toprak, one of the first three people he killed.
The suspect, stating that while going to meet Noman Toprak, Bekir Toprak and Ahmet Uzel he took his unlicensed rifle and cartridges in his vehicle, said that he consumed alcohol along the way.
Özdemir, recounting that an argument broke out at the meeting over the payment of the debt, said: “Bekir said, 'What are you talking to him for? Why don't you go to his father?' Thereupon, I decided to kill them. I decided to take them to a deserted area under the pretext of a field.”
Özdemir, claiming that a new argument occurred in the area where he took the three people, confessed that he loaded his rifle and opened fire on those in the vehicle.
HIS FATHER ASKED HIM TO SURRENDER
The attacker, stating that after killing the first three people he called his father, used the following statements: “On the road, I called my father and said, 'Dad, I could not take it anymore; they kept cursing. I killed all three of them.' My father told me to surrender. I told him I would flee.”
HE OPENED FIRE ON PEOPLE HE ENCOUNTERED DURING HIS ESCAPE
Özdemir, recounting that while fleeing he threw away his phone and stopped the vehicles he encountered, asking the drivers for their cars, said that when a couple tried to interfere with his gun, he killed both of them.
The suspect, stating that when another driver noticed his gun and said he would call the police, he also opened fire on this person, recounted that he later fired several shots at a truck he encountered.
Özdemir stated that when he noticed that a female driver he encountered while wanting to change his vehicle was recording him with her phone, he opened fire on her as well.
The attacker, recounting that he carjacked many vehicles throughout his escape, said that he was finally caught when he came out onto the main road with the vehicle he had stolen.
'I HAD NO ENMITY WITH THE OTHERS EXCEPT THE FIRST THREE PEOPLE'
Özdemir, arguing that he was drunk during the incident and not in his right mind, claimed at the end of his statement that he regretted it.
The suspect said: “I carried out these actions with the courage given by alcohol. I am very regretful. Apart from the first three people I killed, I had no enmity with the others. I lost myself; I did not know what I was doing. I did not fire at the gendarmerie teams. I do not know how the gendarmerie was wounded. I do not accept that I wounded them.”