11.10.2025 15:59
Images have emerged showing the moments when the suspects in the Serdar Öktem assassination left their safe house in Esenyurt, Istanbul. The footage captures the moment when five suspects got into a parked white car and then left to board another vehicle to carry out the murder.
On October 6 in Istanbul's Zincirlikuyu, around 16:15, suspects S. Ö, E. P, M. K, C. Ü, and S. A, who attacked lawyer Serdar Öktem with long-barreled weapons and fled, were found in a vehicle abandoned in the forest in Arnavutköy İstiklal Neighborhood.
SUSPECTS WHO FLED INTO THE TREES WERE CAPTURED
After it was determined that the suspects fled by taxi, the vehicle was stopped by the Eyüpsultan District Gendarmerie Command teams in the Odayeri area. The suspects, who got out of the taxi and fled among the trees, were captured.
NUMBER OF ARRESTS RISES TO 13
Five suspects, two of whom are under 18, and one person identified as assisting them were detained by the Istanbul Organized Crime Fighting Branch teams. During the searches conducted by the teams in the area, two Kalashnikov rifles, two pistols, and equipment such as a ski mask and gloves were seized. In the operations, H. Ö, Y. K, M. B, D. Y, E. K, F. E, and S. A. S, who were assessed to be in contact with those who carried out the attack, were also detained. The number of arrests rose to 13.
9 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED
After the procedures were completed at the police station, the 13 suspects were transferred to the Istanbul Courthouse following health checks. Of the suspects, 9 were referred to the court for arrest, while 4 were referred with a request for judicial control. While 9 suspects were arrested by the court they were brought before, 4 suspects were released under judicial control conditions.
MOMENTS THEY LEFT THE SAFE HOUSE CAPTURED ON CAMERA
Meanwhile, footage emerged showing the moments when the suspects left their safe house in Esenyurt before the attack on lawyer Serdar Öktem. In the footage, five suspects are seen getting into a parked white car. They then leave the street in the vehicle to meet another car to carry out the murder.
STATEMENTS OF THE SUSPECTS REVEALED
Within the scope of the investigation into the murder of lawyer Serdar Öktem in Şişli, the statements given by the suspects have emerged.
"HE BROKE MY PHONE AND TOOK ME HOME"
Suspect Semih Aydın, who stated that he wanted to benefit from the effective remorse provisions and would tell what he knew, said, "About 7 days before the incident, a person whose name I later learned was Alican Çakır contacted me via video call. He said, 'Do you know me? I am Alican Çakır, the head of the Daltons. I will ask you for something.' When I asked him what he wanted, he said, 'You will drop a few of our brothers somewhere.' I initially did not accept and our conversation ended. Two days after this conversation, I received a photo from the same account again. When I opened the photo, I saw that it was a photo of the school my brother was attending. Based on this, I called this person and said I would accept his offer. He told me, 'There is nothing bad. You will just take one of our brothers somewhere in the early morning. You will just drive the car.' I said, 'Okay.' Following this, the person named Alican Çakır sent me the address of the safe house where the people I would take were located. The location showed a place in Esenyurt. When I headed towards the apartment he described to me over the phone, a person was waiting for me at the door. I saw this person for the first time here. However, due to the incident, a person I knew as Memo greeted me and asked, 'Do you have a phone on you?' When I showed him my phone, he said, 'You can't enter here with a phone. We don't bring phones into the house. We don't have phones either,' and asked for my phone. I gave my phone to this person. As soon as he took my phone, he broke it and threw it to the back of the house. Then he took me into the apartment. Inside, there were Sidar, whom I knew from the neighborhood, and Cengizhan, Ejder, and Memo, whose names I learned later. When I entered, these people had set up a table for alcohol and welcomed me. I stayed at this address for about 5-6 days," he was reported to have said.
"HE SAID 'THE TIME HAS COME,' AND WE SET OUT"
Continuing his statement, suspect Semih Aydın said, "The night before the incident, around 11-12, the person I knew as Alican Çakır video-called Sidar and said, 'In the morning, get dressed and leave the house. Semih will take you somewhere.' So we woke up early in the morning, and Cengizhan called a car from the app. A white car picked us up from in front of the house. We went to the location where the car I would use was. Until this incident, I had no knowledge about what car I would be taking or any other matter. However, everyone in the house knew what was going to happen and what was to be done. I later understood this. The key to the car I would use was also at the house. I took the key to the car I would use from the house and directly got into the car. When I got into the car, I did not see any weapons or other criminal elements, and I started the car. We waited in the vehicle for about an hour. During this time, the person named Alican Çakır called Sidar about 2-3 times. In his initial conversations, he said, 'Wait there. I will let you know. I am arranging the house.' In the third call, he said, 'Okay, the time has come, you can now move.' The location he sent to Memo was in the Şişli district. I set out from Ataköy towards Şişli. It took me about 30-35 minutes to reach the location. When I arrived at the location, Sidar called Alican Çakır and informed him that we had arrived at the location. Alican also told us to wander around a bit and keep ourselves occupied. During this time, I entered a gas station, refueled the car, and after taking a few more rounds, we decided to wait in a location close to the same area. However, due to the presence of many police officers around, I could not find a proper place. Finally, we decided to wait under a bridge close to the location," he was reported to have said.
“THEY INFORMED ME THAT 'CANER KOÇER'S REVENGE HAS BEEN TAKEN'”
Continuing his statement, suspect Semih Aydın said, "After waiting here for about 1-2 hours, Alican Çakır called Sidar and said, 'You can come out now.' I then moved. The people in the car were talking about a vehicle and an office. They were constantly looking at the vehicles and offices around. They were also talking about a person in the office. As far as I remember from their conversations, they were saying, 'He never left the office. I wonder if he didn't come to work today.' During these conversations, we passed in front of the office 2-3 times. At that moment, there were again many police teams around the office and the nearby streets.
To avoid traffic, I threw myself from the far left to the right. During this time, a person named Memo saw the vehicle they had called before and said, 'Bro, that car, that car. Cengo, give me the mask and the gun.' Cengizhan reached for a black bag located in the trunk of the car and handed it to Memo. Memo took the weapons and masks out of the bag. While driving, they all put on their masks. When Memo told me to 'Stop,' I suddenly stopped the vehicle. Everyone in the car got out. The first to get out was Memo. They started firing at the vehicle with their guns without aiming. I didn't understand what was happening and tried to run away. After Memo told me again, 'Stop, stop,' I stopped after going a little further and took these individuals back into the vehicle. I couldn't recover from the shock of the incident. Those in the vehicle kept telling me that I shouldn't stop and that I needed to get out of there quickly. After this incident, they called Alican Çakır from inside the vehicle and informed him, saying, 'Our brother Caner Koçer’s revenge has been taken, brother,' it was learned.
"A WEEK BEFORE THE INCIDENT, WE WENT IN FRONT OF HIS OFFICE"
In his statement, Sidar Öz, who stated that the Dalton crime organization threatened to kill his family, said, "Alican told me that the person they wanted to take revenge on lived in Bakırköy Ataköy and that I needed to wait at his door. Then he said he had an office in Mecidiyeköy and that I should wait there as well. He even mentioned that he had a gray vehicle and that we would follow this vehicle. Since he threatened to kill my family, I had to accept his offer. After this conversation, about a week before the incident, we went in front of his office located in Mecidiyeköy Şişli. Alican had sent us the address of this office. We went to this office with a gray vehicle used by a person I know as Serkan, along with me, Ejder, Muhammet, and Cengizhan, around 07:00-07:30. Alican told us that there were 2 long guns and 2 small guns in the trunk of this vehicle we got into. He had sent us a photo of the person to be targeted and the vehicle he used. However, he did not mention the name. That day, around 13:30-14:00, when the person did not come to work and due to the frequent passing of official police vehicles, we returned to the hideout. After going home, Serkan stayed with us in the hideout for 2 days. However, we did not take action during these two days. Two days later, Alican Çakır sent me the location of this person's house in Ataköy. Around 19:00, again with the vehicle used by Serkan, I, Ejder, Muhammet, and Cengizhan went to this location. We waited there until around 03:00. However, not seeing the person and due to the frequent passing of official team vehicles in the area, we left to avoid drawing too much attention. However, we left the vehicle there. Serkan and I took separate commercial taxis, while Ejder, Muhammet, and Cengizhan took another commercial taxi to go to the hideout in Esenyurt," it was learned.
"HE SAID WE NEEDED TO KILL THE PERSON WHEN WE SAW HIM"
Continuing his statement, suspect Sidar Öz said, "On the day of the incident, around 06:30-07:00, a white Toyota vehicle arrived under the direction of Alican Çakır, and I got into this vehicle with Semih, Ejder, Muhammet, and Cengizhan. I described to the person where to go. When we reached the vehicle, the car that brought us left. Semih sat in the driver's seat. I sat in the front right seat. The other three friends sat in the back seat. Alican had told us on the first day we started waiting for this person that we should kill him when we saw him. We never took the weapons that Alican sent us inside the vehicle; they were always in the trunk. The reason we kept them in the trunk was that the vehicle did not have a trunk cover, so we could easily access these weapons from behind the seats. Again, before going to wait, Alican had told me and Muhammet to use the long-barreled weapons, while Ejder and Cengizhan were to use the small weapons. According to Alican's plan, when we saw this person, all four of us would take the weapons and fire at him simultaneously. After getting into the vehicle near the person's house in Ataköy, around 13:30-14:00, Alican Çakır called me and asked us to go to the person's office and wait there. Then we went to the vicinity of the person's office in Mecidiyeköy. However, since official teams frequently passed near the office, we started waiting in a place a little further away from the office where we wouldn't be noticed. Around 17:00, Alican Çakır called me via video and said, 'The guy is getting on the highway. Follow him immediately.' So we headed in the direction he indicated. During this time, either Muhammet or Cengizhan took the weapons from the trunk and gave them to us according to Alican's plan. We saw the vehicle on Barbaros Boulevard. At that moment, I was still on a video call with Alican Çakır, who started shouting, 'Get out, get out.' The person's vehicle was waiting in the right lane due to traffic. We approached and stopped next to him in the left lane. After firing at the vehicle, we got back into our vehicle and fled to Arnavutköy. At that time, we were still on a video call with Alican Çakır. Alican kept shouting, 'Revenge has been taken, revenge has been taken, Caner's revenge has been taken,' it was learned.