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HÜRRİYET Newspaper – May the 31st, 2006
The trial of Ahmet and Osman Gökçek, sons of Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Melih Gökçek, has begun for the crime of “intentional wounding”.
The first hearing of the case at Ankara 10th Criminal Court of First Instance was attended by the defendants Osman Gökçek, Ahmet Gökçek, Borga Şahin, Furkan Bahadır Gökçe, Taşkın Özkale, Selahattin Yüke, Murat Genç, Ramazan Serkan Dönmez and the complainant defendants Oğuz Kaan Doğan, Metehan Doğan, Sirer Doğan, Gülüşen. Doğan and the lawyers of the parties attended.
Claiming that Osman Gökçek harassed them from behind with the car during the pursuit, Oğuz Kağan Doğan claimed that they stopped when they came to Dikmen Valley Teras Evler Street and Osman Gökçek attacked them with a sword in his hand, while Ahmet Gökçek also joined the attack. Oğuz Kağan Doğan, who claimed that the people who got out of the two vehicles that came to the scene later and the private security guards in the vicinity were involved in the attack with sticks, shovel handles and batons, claimed that he heard the people involved in the fight later address Osman Gökçek as “president”.
The complainant and the defendant, Metehan Doğan, also argued that they had no intention of fighting, that they constantly called the police, but since they could not get any results from their complaints to the police, they followed the vehicle in order to identify these people and then report them to the police forces.
Metehan Doğan claimed that the other defendants beat him with various tools in their hands. Metehan Doğan, who claimed that Osman Gökçek drew a gun and turned towards his father during the incident, stated that his brother Oğuz Kağan Doğan stepped in front of Gökçek and said, “If you are going to shoot me, shoot me,” and that his father, journalist Sirer Doğan, took a photo of what happened.
“TO HAVE EVIDENCE IF WE ARE KILLED…”
The complainant and the accused journalist, Sirer Doğan, claimed that as a father, he could not bear what happened, and that he took a photo of Osman Gökçek with a gun in his hand, with the understanding of “if we die, it would be evidence”, and that at the same time, he bit the arm of Ahmet Gökçek, who wanted to stop him.
Sirer Doğan also claimed that the other defendants involved in the incident also tried to take the camera away from him.
DEFENSE OF THE GÖKÇEK BROTHERS
Ankaraspor Football Branch Manager Ahmet Gökçek also said that he was engaged in free trade during the identification process and that his monthly income was 15 thousand TL.
Gökçek claimed that while he was driving on Eskişehir Road with his nephew Ufuk Seçkin, a British citizen living in England, on the day of the incident, a car appeared in front of them and did not give them permission to pass even though the road was available, and that he gave a warning with a flashlight and horn.
Stating that he somehow got in front of the vehicle, Ahmet Gökçek claimed that the people in this vehicle later harassed him by using flashlights and that a person in the vehicle also took photographs.
Ahmet Gökçek, who claimed that the Doğan brothers came to his vehicle and punched the windows when he stopped at a red light during the pursuit, said that he later called his brother Osman Gökçek and reported the situation, and that his brother started following these people with his vehicle near his father’s house. Ahmet Gökçek claimed that he stopped his car when he saw the security guards, and that the people following him attacked his brother behind them with a sword.
Meanwhile, Ahmet Gökçek, who claimed that Sirer Doğan was provoking him by constantly taking photographs, said that his brother was injured while trying to take the sword from Metehan Doğan’s hand during the incident, and that the incident calmed down after a gunshot was heard.
President of the Turkish Youth Federation, Osman Gökçek, also claimed that during the incident, Sirer Doğan cursed and attacked them with the words “I am from Sivas, I am a psychopath”. Osman Gökçek, who claimed that Metehan Doğan tried to hit him with a sword, that he fell to the ground while trying to take the sword and started to be hit on the head, claimed that he did not attack anyone.
FUNCTION OF THE FEDERATION
Stating that he still continues his life with the pocket money he receives from his
father, Ankara Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Melih Gökçek, Osman Gökçek
answered the question about the function of the federation of which he is the
president by saying, “We are preparing 1036 students for ÖSS free of charge.”
Upon the question of Public Prosecutor Arap Lütfü Karakuş, Osman Gökçek stated that the incident took place in front of the federation’s branch and that it was 300 meters away from his father’s house.
The defendant Borga Şahin, who was involved in the fight, stated in his statement that he was close to where the incident took place and that he went there when he heard that his friend Osman Gökçek was involved in the incident. Explaining that he saw 3 people attacking Osman Gökçek when he went to the scene, Borga Şahin said, “I saw Metehan Doğan attacking with a sword, I ran to Osman’s car, took the gun from his car and fired a shot into the air. I knew he had a licensed gun and had it in the torpedo.
“After shooting into the air, I threw the gun under the car so that no one else could use it,” he said.
The other defendants claimed that they went to the place in question when they heard about the incident and that they were not involved in the fight.
“SO-CALLED FEDERATION, COUP GANG”
Erendiz Önal, the lawyer of the Doğan family, claimed that “all the defendants involved in the incident were members of the Turkish Youth Federation, which he described as a ‘so-called federation’, and that this federation was an illegal criminal organization under the guise of a legal organization” and that it had been a “battery gang” several times before under the leadership of Osman Gökçek. He claimed that he was involved in such events.
Lawyer Önal claimed that the attack on his client Metehan Doğan with a shovel handle was “attempted murder” and therefore the court ruled that it had no jurisdiction and referred the case to the high criminal court for “attempted murder”. Önal also requested that an additional indictment be filed against the defendants for “forming a gang, establishing a criminal organization by forming an organization”.
Public Prosecutor Karakuş gave his opinion to reject lawyer Önal’s requests.
Gökçeks’ lawyer, Mehmet Ali Alan, stated that they did not accept the demands of lawyer Erendiz Önal and that the Doğan family caused this incident by following Ahmet Gökçek by acting like the police.
Judge İbrahim Ekdemir stated that when the way the incident occurred, the position of injury and the reports were evaluated, the act of “attempted murder” did not occur, and therefore decided to reject the request for lack of jurisdiction. Ekdemir decided that there was no need for the court to file a criminal complaint against the defendants on the allegation of “establishing an organization to commit a crime” and said that the lawyers of the Doğan family could file a criminal complaint to the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office and postponed the hearing.
REQUESTED PENALTIES
In the indictment, a prison sentence of up to 2 years is requested for Oğuz Kaan Doğan and Metehan Doğan, who were involved in the incident, on the allegation of “deliberate injury”.
The indictment demands a prison sentence of up to 8 years for Osman Gökçek for “intentional wounding”, “threat with a weapon” and violation of the Law on Firearms and Knives, while Ahmet Gökçek is also asked to be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison for “deliberate wounding”.
It is requested that Borga Şahin, one of the defendants, be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison for “intentional wounding” and “taking responsibility for the crime of threat with a weapon committed by Osman Gökçek”.
The indictment requests that the other defendants be sentenced to various prison terms for similar crimes.
