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