36 ISIL suspects face 11,000 years in jail for Ankara bombing

Mesut Hasan Benli – ANKARA

A total of 36 suspects in the deadly Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) bomb attack in the capital Ankara last year are facing up to 11,750 years of jail time, according to the indictment prepared by the Ankara Public Prosecutor’s Office. 

The 571-page indictment, which was sent to the Ankara 4th Court of Serious Crimes on June 28, included accusations for 36 suspects, with 10 under arrest, demanding a total 7,631 years to 11,750 years of jail time for charges including murder, attempted murder, attempting to change the constitutional order and possessing unlicensed weapons and explosives. 

The indictment listed ISIL militant Yunus Emre Alagöz and a Syrian militant, whose identity could not be designated, as the suicide bombers who committed the attack. Alagöz’s brother, Abdurrahman Alagöz, also committed a similar attack in Suruç on July 20, 2015, and killed 33 students.

Meanwhile, 391 people who were wounded in the attack, in addition to 99 people who were relatives of the victims and three people who filed a complaint, were listed as “complainants” in the indictment. 

The prosecutor included the names of 36 suspects, 14 of whom were considered to be responsible for the attack, while the remaining 22 were being charged with membership of the militant jihadist organization. 

An unidentified number of the suspects faced a total of 101 aggravated life sentences for “killing 100 people” and attempting to change the constitutional order. 

The suspects charged with ISIL membership are facing 15 years to 22 years and 6 months of imprisonment. 
The indictment also ruled nonsuit for 17 suspects, including Yunus Durmaz, the mastermind of the July 2015 Suruç bomb attack in addition to the Ankara bombing and former so-called Turkey “emir” of the group, and Halil İbrahim Durgun.

Durmaz was being sought by the police with a reward of up to 4 million Turkish Liras until he blew himself up during a police operation. 

A trial is set to commence after the 4th Heavy Penal Court accepts the indictment. 

The Ankara bombing was the deadliest carried out in Turkey by the jihadist group, killing 103 people, including the two suicide bombers. 

The attack occurred when two suicide bombers linked to ISIL targeted a large group of people outside the capital’s main train station on Oct. 10, 2015 during a gathering of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) supporters.