30.01.2026 15:40
In the case regarding the murder of Ankara University faculty member Necip Hablemitoğlu, who was killed in front of his home in Ankara on December 18, 2002, the only detained defendant, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, has been ordered to be released.
The Ankara 28th Heavy Penal Court, where the case of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu, who was killed in front of his house, is being heard, announced its interim decisions in today's hearing.
RELEASE DECISION MADE The court decided to release the only detained defendant of the case, Nuri Gökhan Bozkır, under the condition of a travel ban.
Nuri Gökhan Bozkır WILL NOT BE RELEASED Bozkır will not be released due to his detention in another case. Additionally, the court decided to be informed about the status of the investigation regarding the camera recordings from the market where Hablemitoğlu shopped before he was murdered and the footage of the Eskişehir conference on December 14, 2017, which is ongoing at the Ankara 9th Peace Criminal Court. The court also decided to continue the judicial controls of the other defendants.
MURDERED 23 YEARS AGO It has been 23 years since Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu, a faculty member at Ankara University, was killed in a gun attack.
WHO IS HABLEMİTOĞLU? Born in Ankara in 1954, Hablemitoğlu graduated from the Press and Broadcasting School of the Faculty of Political Sciences at Ankara University in 1977. He published a magazine titled "Unity in Language, Thought, and Action" and worked as a press advisor in various organizations for many years. Hablemitoğlu completed his master's and doctoral studies at the Turkish Revolution History Institute of Ankara University.
Hablemitoğlu, who conducted studies on Turkish works in Central Europe and the Balkans, Turkish minorities, and martyrdom, authored books such as "Death Camps in Soviet Russia," "Crimea Without Turks: The Exile of Hundreds of Thousands," "Turkish Congresses in Tsarist Russia (1905-1917)," "Şefika Gaspıralı and the Turkish Women's Movement in Russia (1893-1920)," "A Country Under the Grip of Islamist Terror and the West: Turkey," "Green Army Society in the National Struggle," "Gaspıralı İsmail," "German Foundations and the Bergama File," "Turkish Genocide in Crimea," and "Mole."
Nuh Mete Yüksel, the Ankara DGM Prosecutor at the time conducting an investigation into German foundations, included quotes from Hablemitoğlu's book "German Foundations and the Bergama File" in the indictment he prepared in 2002. In this book, Hablemitoğlu argued that German foundations were conducting illegal activities in Turkey, fueling ethnic and sectarian divisions, and financing opponents of gold mining.
Hablemitoğlu, who taught courses on Atatürk's principles and revolution history at Ankara University, was shot and killed in front of his house on Portakal Çiçeği Street in Çankaya on the evening of December 18, 2002.
After the murder, newspapers had headlines such as "Deep assassination - Hablemitoğlu, known for his research on sensitive issues of the state, was shot dead," "Deep murder - Those who shot Hablemitoğlu, known for his work on the Gülen case in the DGM and German foundations, fled in Ankara," and "Bloody ambush in the capital - Hablemitoğlu, known for his studies on Islamist terror and Fethullahist structures, was killed."
HE HAD DESCRIBED FETÖ YEARS AGO Hablemitoğlu, in the last chapter of his posthumously published book "Mole," stated that he was sure his phones were being tapped and that his emails and files on his computer were being copied while he continued his work, and for this reason, he used another computer without connecting to the internet.
In his book "Mole," published in 2003, Hablemitoğlu made striking observations about the organization that would later be identified as FETÖ, describing how this structure, which he referred to as "Fetullahçılar," infiltrated the state, particularly how they took over the Directorate of Security Intelligence and how they neutralized those who acted against them.
In his book, Hablemitoğlu emphasized that "Fetullahçılar" are "the most dangerous threat facing Turkey," and he also noted that the Gülen community began to take on an armed organization form.
EVIDENCE TO CONFIRM THE ALLEGATION WAS NOT FOUND IN THE FIRST INVESTIGATION After the murder, the first investigation was conducted by the then-Ankara DGM Prosecutor Cengiz Köksal. A defendant, who was on trial in Istanbul for killing five people for money, claimed during a hearing in 2003 that he had carried out the assassination himself. Following this claim, some individuals were questioned, and some places were searched, but no evidence to confirm the allegation was found.
Claims emerged that Hablemitoğlu was killed by foreign intelligence services due to his work, but no evidence was found regarding this either.
In the FETÖ's setup Ergenekon case, it was claimed that the Hablemitoğlu murder was behind "the Ergenekon terrorist organization." However, the proposal for intervention in the case by the Ergenekon prosecutor was not accepted by Hablemitoğlu's wife, Şengül Hablemitoğlu.
FETÖ CONNECTION IN THE ASSASSINATION Despite the years that have passed, the Hablemitoğlu case, which remains unsolved, was reopened shortly before the coup attempt on July 15, 2016.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office included the Hablemitoğlu assassination in the indictment it completed on July 14, 2016, just one day before FETÖ's coup attempt.
A lawsuit was filed against 73 people, including the organization's leader Fetullah Gülen, for establishing an armed terrorist organization and attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, and the indictment linked the Hablemitoğlu murder to FETÖ.
This indictment stated, "Fetullahçılar made great efforts to portray this assassination as the work of Ergenekon, and they used false witnesses in the case. Only the interests of the community are involved in Hablemitoğlu's murder."
A LAWSUIT WAS FILED REGARDING THE FETÖ CONNECTION IN THE ASSASSINATION Details related to the assassination were re-examined, and the information obtained raised suspicions that the murder was committed by FETÖ. The investigation into the Hablemitoğlu assassination was completed 20 years after the murder, on November 11, 2022.
The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office's Terror Crimes Investigation Bureau reopened the case against 10 defendants, including FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen and retired Colonel Levent Göktaş, six of whom are in custody.
Among the defendants, FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen and FETÖ fugitive Mustafa Özcan, as well as Enver Altaylı and Aydın Köstem are being tried for "instigating to murder with premeditation," while retired colonels Levent Göktaş and Ahmet Tarkan Mumcuoğlu and retired major Fikret Emek are being tried for "murder with premeditation" with a request for aggravated life imprisonment.
In the case where former captain Nuri Gökhan Bozkır and FETÖ fugitive Serhat Ilıcak are charged with "aiding in premeditated murder," a prison sentence of up to 20 years is sought, and Göktaş's order sergeant Mehmet Narin is also facing a request for up to 4 years in prison for "membership in a criminal organization."
DEFENDANTS RELEASED UNDER JUDICIAL CONTROL In the case heard by the Ankara 28th Heavy Criminal Court, the trial of the defendants began on February 14, 2023. In the hearing on May 18, 2023, the court released the detained defendants Göktaş, Altaylı, Bozkır, Mumcuoğlu, Köstem, and Emek under the judicial control measure of "prohibition of leaving the country."
A warrant for the arrest of Bozkır, who did not comply with the judicial control measures, was issued on July 3, 2023. Bozkır, who was captured in Ankara on January 2, 2024, was arrested by the court the following day for not complying with the judicial control measures.