Nineteen suspects have been arrested and eight others placed under judicial supervision in an investigation into the 2009 helicopter crash that killed former Great Unity Party (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and five others, prosecutors said on July 17.
The chief prosecutor’s office in Ankara said the suspects were detained in an operation targeting individuals allegedly linked to FETÖ, the terror group behind the failed coup in 2016.
Simultaneous raids were conducted at 30 addresses across 10 provinces, including Ankara, the office said in a statement.
It said arrest warrants had been issued for 29 suspects accused of involvement in the alleged “premeditated murder” of Yazıcıoğlu and his companions as part of FETÖ-related activities connected to the crash. Twenty-seven suspects were detained.
Following questioning at the prosecutor’s office, all were referred to a magistrate’s court with a request for their arrest.
Yazıcıoğlu, the founding leader of the BBP, died along with five others when a helicopter carrying them crashed in the southern province of Kahramanmaraş in March 2009. The crash has remained the subject of multiple investigations, with allegations of negligence and foul play.
