Authorities are set to exhume the body of Kaşif Kozinoğlu, a former senior official at Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MİT), as part of a death investigation that was reopened 15 years later, in an effort to uncover further evidence surrounding his death.
Kozinoğlu’s grave in Istanbul’s Ümraniye district is expected to be opened in the coming days. Tissue samples taken from the grave will undergo toxicological and chemical analyses.
Investigators will also examine whether Kozinoğlu was given any medication other than those he was prescribed while in prison.
Kozinoğlu was arrested in 2011 as part of the Ergenekon investigation. The Ergenekon trial was later found to have been based on fabricated evidence and allegations made by FETÖ, who sought to purge military officers by accusing them of plotting a coup.
Kozinoğlu died in prison on Nov. 12, 2011, during the eighth month of his detention, shortly before he was scheduled to testify in the case.
His death was officially attributed to a heart attack. However, questions were raised over whether he had received timely and adequate medical attention, while allegations that he may have been poisoned also fueled controversy surrounding his death.
The case file also contained conflicting accounts from prison guards and medical personnel regarding the circumstances under which Kozinoğlu was transferred from the prison to hospital.
The investigation into his death was recently reopened after the Justice Ministry established a special unit to examine unresolved cases that have attracted significant public attention.
As part of the renewed investigation, security camera footage showing how long it took for an emergency alarm to be noticed on the night Kozinoğlu fell ill is being re-examined, along with an email reportedly sent to his lawyer after his death.
One of the key areas of focus in the reopened investigation is an allegation that Kozinoğlu had requested Coraspin, a blood-thinning medication and vitamin pills shortly before his death, but that the vitamin medication was not subjected to a detailed toxicological and chemical analysis during the autopsy.
The case file also includes an email reportedly sent to Kozinoğlu’s lawyer after his death, which allegedly claimed that his death was not caused by a heart attack.
