MURDER IN ANATOLIA - European Stability Initiative - ESI

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policeman told Emre that they would not know that he did it and that the file would be
closed as if the attacker had been unknown. They told him, „If they make a search and
find out that you did it, we will let you know.‟ This is what Emre told us. That‟s why we
stopped short of telling the police what Emre was planning.” 126
Cuma recalled the same incident:
“Salih, Emre and I went to the Sumer police station. We waited across the station and
Emre went in. He [Emre] said there were police he knew and that he‟d managed the
situation and the case was closed.” 127
One month later, in March 2007, Emre stabbed a student inside the dormitory. Hamit, who
was in the dorm at the time, later testified:
“I saw Emre and another student, Fatih, taking Onur down to the study room. I heard that
Onur had borrowed money from other students and hadn‟t paid back his debt. Later I
heard Onur crying and screaming. When I arrived I saw Emre hitting Onur in the face
with a bread knife and Fatih hitting him with his fist. Emre stabbed his body several
times and Onur fell to the floor. Emre and Fatih escaped … This event was not taken to
trial. I understood from this behaviour that Emre would use violence if someone was not
doing what he wanted. After this event Emre was kicked out of the dorm.” 128
Emre had spent a total of two months at the dorm.
After the second hearing on 14 January 2008, Orhan Kemal Cengiz pointed to links between
Emre and the chief of police in Malatya.
“However prepared the defendants‟ statements were, it was still possible to find out
details such as the close relationship between Emre Gunaydin and the chief of police. Of
course, the question is whether, despite this information, we will be able to go beyond
the current picture.” 129
But Emre‟s personal links to the police were not his associates‟ only source of concern. As
Salih, who came from the same village (Dogansehir) as Emre‟s family, told the court,
“Emre also said that there were seven files about him at the police, that he had been in
prison, and that his elder brother was with Sedat Peker. [Emre‟s] uncles were among the
leading mafia groups in Turkey. I heard in Dogansehir that his uncles were in the mafia.
After he came to the dorm, I started to go wherever Emre went. I didn‟t object because I
was afraid. When we said no, he would yell at us.” 130
Sedat Peker, born in 1971, was a household name in Turkey, having become one of the most
famous and flamboyant organized crime figures of his generation. Between 1988 and 2002
Peker had spent more than 2 years in prison on charges ranging from organised crime to
armed assault. In 2004 he was arrested again and sentenced three years later to 14 years for
126 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hhearing, 14 April 2008, p. 15.
127 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hearing, 14 April 2008, p. 3.
128 Protocol of the 2 nd Court Hearing, 14 January 2008, p. 12.
129 Bianet, “Malatya Murders: More People Involved?”, 16 January 2008,
http://www.bianet.org/english/english/104194-malatya-murders-more-people-involved.
130 Protocol of the 5 th Court Hearing, 14 April, 2008, p. 15.
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