Turkey launches probe into unsolved murder of Turkish Cypriot journalist

Turkey has launched a probe into the unsolved murder of Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adalı following Turkish mafia leader Sedat Peker's bombshell allegations on the issue. Peker recently claimed that former state officials ordered the killing of Adalı in 1996.

Atilla Peker (3R) is seen in Fethiye, where he gave his testimony on the killing of journalist Kutlu Adalı.

Duvar English 

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has launched a probe into the 1996 unsolved murder of Turkish Cypriot journalist Kutlu Adalı following a mafia leader's revelations on the issue. 

Mafia boss Sedat Peker, who has been releasing videos for the past month to get revenge from his former allies, said on May 23 former minister Mehmet Ağar and former intelligence official Korkut Eken ordered the journalist's killing. 

He also said that he was approached by the said officials to assign someone for the killing at the time and that he assigned his own brother, Atilla Peker, to commit murder. Following a failed operation, someone else under Eken's command did the killing, Sedat Peker said. 

Atilla Peker was detained hours after the mafia leader released the video, but was released shortly after. He, however, went to the prosecutor's office voluntarily to give the details of his cooperation with Eken and Ağar regarding the murder plot.

Journalist Kutlu Adalı. 

The Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on June 1 said that a probe was launched after Peker gave his testimony. 

The prosecutor's office said that necessary information was requested from Turkish Cypriot authorities. 

Sedat Peker, a pan-Turkist and Turanist organized crime boss who fled Turkey in early 2020 to avoid prosecution, has been releasing videos for the past month that include serious allegations, including murders, against current and former politicians in a bid to take revenge for the operations launched into his organization.

Although mostly infuriated due to being sidelined, Peker, an ally-turned-foe of the government, repeatedly says he releases the videos as a reaction against police officers raiding his house and pointing guns towards his wife and little daughters.

Peker's claims against current and former politicians, with the main ones being Ağar and Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, have been shaking Turkey, but the government's response to the accusations has been weak so far.