Mumcu family to meet justice minister over reopened probe

ANKARA

The family of slain Turkish journalist and writer Uğur Mumcu will meet Justice Minister Akın Gürlek on Aug. 6 after requesting a meeting over concerns about the latest developments in the investigation into his 1993 assassination.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement on Aug. 3 that the meeting would address the current status of the case file and new efforts being carried out into the killing.

Mumcu’s wife, Güldal Mumcu, and children Özgür Mumcu and Özge Mumcu Aybars, along with their lawyers Turgut Kazan and Yalçın Akbal, had requested the meeting after Gürlek said the file was among hundreds of unsolved cases being reviewed.

In a statement, the family said Gürlek’s remarks that the Uğur Mumcu case was being reexamined had created “serious uncertainty and concern.”

The family said the state’s priority should be capturing fugitive suspect Oğuz Demir and bringing him before the court, while also stressing that they wanted all aspects of the assassination to be uncovered.

Mumcu, one of Türkiye’s most prominent investigative journalists, was killed on Jan. 24, 1993, when a bomb placed on his car exploded outside his home in Ankara. His family described the killing as one of Türkiye’s most serious political assassinations that remains unresolved in all its dimensions.

Convictions against Ferhan Özmen, who was accused of preparing the bomb, and Necdet Yüksel, who was accused of acting as a lookout, had been finalized. The trial of Demir, who is accused of placing the bomb on Mumcu’s vehicle, is continuing at an Ankara court.

Gürlek recently said about 680 unsolved cases that had not reached the statute of limitations were being reviewed, including Mumcu’s case.

The family said it did not oppose a broader investigation but warned that the process should not undermine final court rulings, clear convicted perpetrators of responsibility or distract from efforts to capture Demir.

Mumcu was known for his investigative reporting on corruption, organized crime and political Islam. His assassination sparked widespread public mourning and remains one of the most high-profile unsolved political killings in modern Turkish history.