Türkiye
A suspect sought for 11 years over the 2015 killing of gendarmerie major Arslan Kulaksız is caught in Tatvan
- What happened
- A fugitive identified as İ.Y., wanted over the July 2015 attack that killed Major Arslan Kulaksız in Malazgirt, was caught in Tatvan with two people accused of hiding him.
- Why it matters
- The district gendarmerie commander was shot in front of his family, and the state has hunted those responsible for 11 years.
- What’s next
- Legal proceedings against the three suspects are under way, Sözcü reports.
How this story developed
- 18:25First report
- 18:392nd source
- 18:39Confirmed
- 18:40+5 outlets in 33 min
- 18:25First reportA Haber
- 18:392nd sourceCumhuriyet
- 18:39ConfirmedWas: Single source
- 18:40Latest+5 outlets in 33 minHürriyet, NTV, Sözcü and 2 more
Full story
Caught in Tatvan
A fugitive suspect in the 2015 killing of gendarmerie Major Arslan Kulaksız has been caught after 11 years, the Interior Ministry announced on Saturday, as A Haber, Cumhuriyet, Hürriyet, NTV, Sözcü, Habertürk and Anadolu Agency reported. The suspect, identified only by the initials İ.Y., was found at the address where he was hiding in Tatvan, a district of Bitlis province. In follow-up work, two people the authorities say helped and sheltered him were also detained in the same district.
The operation was run by the Gendarmerie General Command’s intelligence department and the police counter-terrorism (TEM) department, together with the Muş provincial gendarmerie command and the police in Muş and Bitlis, according to the ministry’s statement. Sözcü reported that legal proceedings against the suspects are continuing.
The 2015 attack
Kulaksız was the gendarmerie commander of Malazgirt, a district of Muş. On the evening of 27 July 2015, at about 19:30, he and his wife Sibel Funda Kulaksız were attacked by PKK militants as they returned from a visit, NTV reported. Kulaksız was badly wounded and died in hospital; his wife was injured. Several outlets stressed that he was shot in front of his family.
Anadolu Agency described İ.Y. as one of the attackers. The ministry’s statement called him one of the fugitives in the case and said the operation aimed to catch those still at large, which suggests the search for others is not over.
“The state does not forget”
The ministry congratulated the gendarmerie, the intelligence and counter-terrorism departments and the police in Muş and Bitlis. Interior Minister Mustafa Çiftçi wrote on social media under the heading “Our state does not forget”.
“The account of what was done may be left for tomorrow, but the one who did it will not get away with it. The blood of our martyrs is not left on the ground. Even if 11 years have passed, our state’s memory and its will are as strong as on the first day.”
Mustafa Çiftçi, Interior Minister, Hürriyet(translated)
Çiftçi said he remembered Kulaksız with gratitude and thanked the gendarmerie and police who took part, adding that the families of those killed are under the state’s protection, Hürriyet reported.