Wife of slain Turkish politician Sinan Ates names suspected politicians in testimony

In the ongoing trial concerning the murder of Sinan Ates, the former head of Ulku Ocaklari (Idealist Hearths), the court heard testimony from his wife who appeared as a complainant among 22 defendants.

For the first time, Ates named certain politicians, stating, “Only hired killers, drug dealers, extortionists, runners, and bagmen are sitting here; the real culprits are outside.”

In her statement, Ates said, “My husband repeatedly told me, ‘Ayse, Olcay Kilavuz and Ahmet Yigit Yildirim are looking for a hitman to kill me, they are going door to door.’ After Sinan left his position, they started with threats and insults from bot accounts. From an account called Orhun Haber, they made various slanders under the title ‘A Fire of Betrayal.’ This Orhun Haber site is owned by Mert Kerim Ejder, Deputy Chairman of Ulku Ocaklari. Ahmet Yigit Yildirim launched a smear campaign against my husband. These baseless and false slanders resulted in my husband’s assassination.”

In her statement, Ates said, “I am targeting the criminal gang that has infiltrated the MHP and Ulku Ocaklari.”

Ates mentioned that she conveyed her husband’s words during her meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, stating, “These are a criminal gang defying the state. Our President said, ‘My daughter, I promise you, the killers will be caught.’ However, the scene I have observed in this courtroom for the past three days is in front of me. There is a dark criminal organization defying our President’s will.”

Regarding the allegations that she and her husband were members of the Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETO), Ates said, “If I am a FETO member, if Sinan is a FETO member, go file a criminal complaint.”

In further statements, Ates said, “If I don’t say these things today, I may never say them again. Let these not go to the grave with me. Actually, when the threats started, Sinan said, ‘Ayse, Izzet Ulvi Yonter and Semih Yalcin gave orders to Ahmet Yigit Yildirim and Olcay Kilavuz for my assassination, and they are going door to door looking for someone to kill me.'”

Ayse Ates listed her demands in court as follows: “I fully accept my statement and want these additional details to be included, the questioning of the 17 suspects in the file and the individuals I have named, their fair trial, the quick collection of missing statements, the merging of these two files to fill the gaps. I demand a fair trial; I want justice for all people.”

Sinan Ates’s sister Selma Kazanc also stated that their grandfather, father, and mother were nationalists, and she had no issue with this community. Kazanc said, “We served in many institutions of the Ulku Ocaklari, and I am proud of it, but the people who infiltrated have no relation to those in our time. I do not slander the MHP or Ulku Ocaklari. Ahmet Yigit Yildirim and Olcay Kilavuz had an issue. Kilavuz and Yildirim’s threats continued constantly. Later, while sitting at home, Sinan said, ‘They have decided my fate. Their issue is with my life.’ We asked, ‘Who?’ He listed, ‘Izzet Ulvi Yonter, Olcay Kilavuz, Ahmet Yigit Yildirim, Semih Yalcin.'”

Sinan Ates’s other sister, Sevda Ates Yorukoglu, also stated that they wanted justice and had trust in the Turkish justice system.