Police request info from Turkey in murder probe
THE TRNC Police General Directorate has made an official request to Turkey for information relating to the unsolved killing of Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adalı in Lefkoşa.
Yenidüzen journalist Adalı was gunned down outside his home on July 6, 1996, by an unknown assailant.
In May Turkish mob boss Sedat Peker claimed in a YouTube video that his brother Atilla was involved in the plot to kill him, sparking calls for a fresh investigation.
In a statement issued on Monday, the police said that they had requested information from Turkish authorities in accordance with the “Law on Extradition, Mutual Enforcement of Court Orders and Judicial Assistance” signed between the TRNC and Turkey.
The statement stressed that the Police General Directorate has worked “diligently” on the murder case and that “examinations and investigations would continue until new information into the incident comes to light”.
The full statement said: “Recently, there has been misleading news put out by the press, on television and on social media, based on the opinions of different circles regarding the death of journalist-writer Kutlu Adalı, who was shot and killed in 1996.
“They present similar issues to the public that had come into question in the past to try to create the perception that they are new.
“Despite all efforts, the ongoing investigation and research into all information and every statement has not identified the perpetrators of the murder of Kutlu Adalı.
“For this reason, the file was classified as ‘unsolved’. Finally, there were posts containing some explanations on the subject on a social networking site from outside the country.
“Based on the shared information and developments, the murder file was re-opened for investigation by the Police General Directorate.
“For this purpose, the necessary information was requested from the relevant authorities in the Republic of Turkey in accordance with the ‘Law on Extradition,
Mutual Enforcement of Court Orders and Judicial Assistance’ signed between the TRNC and Turkey on December 25, 1987.”
Meanwhile Kutlu Adalı was remembered on the 25th anniversary of his death at his graveside in Lefkoşa Cemtery on Tuesday.
The TRNC’s Second President and former Republican Turkish Party (CTP) leader Mehmet Ali Talat, current CTP leader Tufan Erhürman, Social Democracy Party leader Cemal Özyiğit, MPs, and bureaucrats joined members of Mr Adalı’s family and loved ones at the commemoration ceremony organised by Yenidüzen and the Kutlu Adalı Foundation
Yenidüzen general manager and editor-in-chief Cenk Mutluyakalı, Press Union chairman Ali Kişmir, speaking on behalf of the “This Country is Ours Platform”, and Kutlu Adalı’s widow İlkay Adalı, speaking on behalf of the Kutlu Adalı Foundation, gave speeches at the ceremony.
There was also a minute’s silence in “honour of all the intellectuals who have lost their lives for the country”.
Members of the This Country is Ours Platform also laid a black wreath at the gates of the police headquarters in Lefkoşa with a message that read “We will not be silent”.