The Sinan Ateş case will continue tomorrow! Tolgahan Demirbaş denied all the accusations like this: My conscience is clear.

The first hearing of the trial with 22 defendants regarding the murder of Former Idealist Hearths Education and Culture Foundation President and Hacettepe University Lecturer Assoc. Dr. Sinan Ateş has been completed. Defendant and former Idealist Hearths executive Tolgahan Demirbaş, who defended himself in the trial, said, "The file has been leaked to FETÖ-affiliated press members and a perception operation has been carried out during this process. My conscience is clear."

The trial, which was held at the 32nd Heavy Penal Court in Sincan Penal Institutions Campus, continued with the defense of the defendant and former Idealist Hearths executive Tolgahan Demirbaş.

"I HAVE NO HOSTILITY OR ACQUAINTANCE WITH THE VICTIM"

Denying the accusations against him, Demirbaş said, "I have no involvement in such an incident. I have no hostility or acquaintance with the victim. I have never met the other defendants in my life. I don't know them, and they don't know me."

"MY CONSCIENCE IS CLEAR"

Demirbaş, who claimed that he had no knowledge of Ateş' murder, said, "I have no connection to this incident. I have never incriminated anyone in my life. The file has been leaked to FETÖ-affiliated press members and a perception operation has been carried out during this process. My conscience is clear. I am a person who has been arrested due to the public pressure and perception operation carried out to put a community under suspicion after the incident."

Demirbaş, who claimed that there were "conspiracy theories" about him in the media after the incident, stated that he did not leave Ankara despite this and went to the prosecutor's office upon invitation. Denying the allegation that he hid information on his mobile phone, Demirbaş said, "If there is a fair trial based on concrete evidence rather than public opinion and social media pressure, I believe I will be acquitted."

"THE INFORMATION ON MY MOBILE PHONE IS FROM 8 MONTHS BEFORE THE INCIDENT, IT IS NOT RELATED TO THIS INCIDENT"

When asked why he conducted research on Sinan Ateş in the examinations of his phone, Demirbaş continued as follows: "I handed over my mobile phone voluntarily with its password, saying 'I have no connection or involvement in this incident.' The information found on this mobile phone is from 8 months before the incident and is not related to this incident. There was a regrettable incident in the past. Due to the regrettable incident, there was a reaction in the community towards him. Therefore, my friends wanted to protest by hanging a banner in front of the victim's house. Everyone made efforts in their own way regarding where the banner would be hung. I also made this effort. I don't know that the information was the victim's home address. I have never been to that house, and I have never directed anyone. I didn't send anyone the victim's flight information or direct anyone."

Demirbaş claimed that he did not request any information from any public official regarding the victim or anyone else. When asked about his conversation with Mustafa Ensar Aykal, the former Chief of the Homicide Bureau, one of the defendants in the trial, Demirbaş said, "It is true that this person called me. He asked, 'Do you know about the incident in Çukurambar?' I said, 'I have no idea,' he said, 'Okay,' and hung up. After the first conversation, I never contacted him anywhere in any way."

"I DID NOT DIRECT ANYONE"

Demirbaş claimed that one of the defendants in the trial, Çağlar Zorlu, mentioned a computer program to him and said that when he entered the information, the program determined the location of the relevant individuals. Demirbaş stated that he asked him to look at Ateş' information to "hang a banner in front of Ateş' house" and continued, "He gave me two addresses, I did not go to any of those addresses, I did not direct anyone. Those addresses are also fake, as stated in the reports. I did not use any expressions like 'he is a troublemaker, we will reprimand him.'"

When reminded that he sent a location to Emre Yüksel before the murder, and the location that was sent to the hitman Eray Özyağcı was the same, Demirbaş made the following claims: "I have no idea how this happened. I decided to go to a farmhouse where I have been going for years to engage in social activities. Emre Yüksel had bought a licensed gun the day before and was going to shoot. On the day of the incident, Yüksel called me while I was at my parents' house and said he had a friend with him. When he asked me what I was going to do, I said I would go to the farmhouse. I went there, and I sent him a location from a central place. When Emre said he would be late, I went to the gas station. In the meantime, when Yüksel said he couldn't leave his guest, I went directly to the farmhouse. Then Emre called me and said they were going to have dinner with the guest. I returned to Ankara to meet them, and we had dinner together. I have no knowledge of why the location appeared somewhere else. "

INFORMATION NOTE ABOUT THE MURDER FROM ANKARA POLICE

When asked about the information note about the murder that came to his phone from Ankara police, Demirbaş said, "I did not request the information note."

Demirbaş said, "My family and I are victims. I am being called the 'instigator' even though I have no connection to the incident. I request my release and acquittal at the end of the trial."

"I DON'T REMEMBER MEETING WITH OLCAY KILAVUZ ON THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT"

Demirbaş said, "I don't remember meeting with Olcay Kılavuz on the day of the incident, the incident is being diverted in another direction.He said, "There may be a finding, I don't know, if there is, the expert report is incorrect." Demirbaş claimed that in his correspondence with the defendant Aykal, referring to Sinan Ateş, he said, "No one pulled his string. I have never witnessed such a thing in any environment. When I say 'his string was pulled', I mean that he has no connection with the organization, the community, and that he was excommunicated."

DEFENDANT WHO STAYED AT THE HITMAN'S HOUSE MADE HIS DEFENSE

The defendant Zekeriya Asarkaya, whose defense was taken, said that he did not accept the accusations against him. Asarkaya, who expressed his condolences to Ateş and his family, said, "I feel guilty because I am involved in such a thing unintentionally. It feels like I'm in a dream. I have had a prison life for so long but I have never seen such a thing." He said. Asarkaya stated that someone called him and said that the friend of the defendant Hakan Saraç needed a place to stay, "He asked me if I could accommodate him. After thinking for a while, I accepted. These people stayed at my house for a few days. They told me that they came to Ankara because they had a debt issue. I am in prison for no reason. I was used without my knowledge. I had no idea that such a murder would be committed. I demand my acquittal." He said.

DEFENSES OF OTHER DEFENDANTS

The defendant Hakan Saraç, who made his defense, also denied the accusations and said that he had been on leave from the prison where he had been staying for 16 years. Saraç, who stated that the defendant Suat Kurt called him and asked him about a place to stay in Ankara, said, "He told me that he was sick and that he didn't have money to stay in a hotel. I was surprised that Suat Kurt asked me this question because we didn't have a close relationship. I was also sorry for him because he had been in prison before. I called my friend Zekeriya from prison and asked him. That's the story. I heard the name of the late Sinan Ateş in prison. I have no connection with this incident." He said.

The defendant Aşkın Mert Gelenbey, stating that he was childhood friends with Özyağci, said that after he was assigned as a police officer to Istanbul in 2019, he met with him several times. Gelenbey, who said that Özyağci called him on December 26, 2022, and asked if he wanted to go to Ankara, said, "I told him that I didn't have enough money, and he said, 'I can arrange a car, and you can visit there.' I accepted. He didn't tell me that he had a warrant. If he had told me, I would have handed him over to the police." He said.

Gelenbey, who said that he offered to go to Ankara together with Murat Can Çolak, one of the defendants in the case, claimed that his purpose in going to Ankara was to visit his brother and have fun at a venue. Aşkın Mert Gelenbey used the following statements: "When Murat Can started to fall asleep around Kocaeli, Eray came to the front seat. When I took my brother in the car in Ankara, Eray moved to the back seat and fell asleep. When we were close to the address where Eray would be dropped off, we came across a police checkpoint. I turned on the interior lights of the car. The officers said, 'Move on, kids.' After dropping off Eray at his destination, I bought alcohol from a kiosk. Murat Can slept all the way from Istanbul to Ankara. When Murat Can didn't wake up, I turned back to Istanbul because I saw my brother." After the defense, the presiding judge stated that the defense of 8 defendants was taken in today's hearing and announced that the hearing was adjourned until tomorrow.