(AA Photo)
Türkiye has ordered the detention of 47 more suspects as part of a newly reopened investigation into the 2009 helicopter crash that killed Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, the then-leader of the ultranationalist Great Union Party (BBP).
Yazıcıoğlu, 54, died on March 25, 2009, when the helicopter carrying him and members of his entourage crashed into Mount Keş in the Göksun district of the southern province of Kahramanmaraş, shortly after taking off from a campaign rally in Çağlayancerit for Yozgat.
The crash has remained the subject of years of public controversy, with questions over whether it was an accident or a politically motivated killing. The wreckage and the victims’ bodies were found 48 hours after the crash, fueling further scrutiny of the rescue operation.
The investigation, initially focused on allegations of negligence and misconduct by public officials, was later revisited amid claims involving state officials and alleged links to the FETÖ terrorist organization.
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek said on Sept. 25 that simultaneous raids had been carried out at 45 addresses across 16 of the country’s 81 provinces in an Ankara-led operation. Of the 47 suspects facing detention orders, 33 had been apprehended, while 10 were already in prison and three remained at large, he added.
Gürlek said the suspects were believed to have participated in the deliberate killing of Yazıcıoğlu as part of FETÖ’s activities and to have committed various crimes to prevent the circumstances surrounding his death from being uncovered.
