Probe deepens into death of former religious leader

ISTANBUL

Prosecutors have opened a homicide investigation into the 2016 death of former Islamic group leader and ex-Transport Minister Arif Ahmet Denizolgun, after an expert report determined that his death was suspicious.

The chief prosecutor’s office in Istanbul’s Bakırköy district said on Aug. 26 that the investigation covers Alihan Kuriş, the current leader of the Süleymancılar religious group who has been jailed since Aug. 16, and other suspects named in the case.

The investigation follows the exhumation of Denizolgun’s grave at Istanbul’s Karacaahmet Cemetery on Aug. 19, ordered after his nephew and former lawmaker Fatih Süleyman Denizolgun filed a complaint over his uncle’s death.

An expert report dated Aug. 25 found indications of a suspicious death, prompting prosecutors to launch the new investigation.

The inquiry is examining not only members of the group’s leadership but also medical and forensic officials involved in the handling of Denizolgun’s death in 2016.

Denizolgun, a grandson of Süleyman Hilmi Tunahan, the founder of the religious movement, was elected to parliament from the Welfare Party in 1995 and served as transport minister from 1998 to 1999. He also chaired parliament’s NATO Commission.

He died in September 2016, after which Kuriş, another grandson of Tunahan, became the group’s leader.

Kuriş was arrested Aug. 16 in a separate investigation led by Ankara prosecutors into allegations including establishing and being a member of an organized crime group.

The Interior Ministry has said the investigation was based on financial and property movements linked to the group since Kuriş assumed its leadership.

Kuriş and other suspects face allegations including money laundering, aggravated fraud and violations of tax law. He has categorically denied the accusations, calling them baseless.