Justice Minister Gürlek says 21 people are detained in Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu case

Justice Minister Gürlek received Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu’s wife, Gülefer Yazıcıoğlu, and son, Fatih Furkan Yazıcıoğlu, at the Ministry of Justice. Gürlek said 21 people were detained in the case and that the investigation was ongoing, while the family members said they continued to hope for justice.

Scraper SystemAugust 10, 2026, 06:21 PM

Justice Minister Gürlek says 21 people are detained in Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu case

Justice Minister Gürlek received Gülefer Yazıcıoğlu, the wife of the late Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu, the founding chairman of the Grand Unity Party, and his son, Fatih Furkan Yazıcıoğlu, at the Ministry of Justice.

During the meeting, Gürlek said that the Department of Combating Unsolved Crimes was examining unsolved cases in detail. He said the incident in which Yazıcıoğlu lost his life had initially been treated as a helicopter crash, but claimed that the investigation had uncovered links indicating that it was an organized act.

He said 21 people were detained in the case

Gürlek announced that a special team had been established within the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to investigate the incident and that the first operation had been conducted. He said 21 people were detained in the case, most of them military personnel, and added that the operations would continue.

Justice Minister Gürlek said the accident investigation team that conducted the initial examination of the incident, as well as the military team that first reached the area, were also being investigated. He said it had been determined that the HTS records and flight radar records from the date of the incident had been deleted, adding that these records were being examined to clarify the nature of the incident.

Claim of an organizational link

Gürlek said there were findings indicating that the helicopter pilot and the pilot’s wife had links to FETÖ. He claimed that the pilot had spoken by telephone and held meetings with the organization’s covert imams on the day of the incident and had previously communicated with Adil Öksüz. He also claimed that a fingerprint belonging to the pilot’s wife had been found at Öksüz’s home.

Gürlek also said that the two military personnel who were the first to reach the scene and the team that removed the helicopter’s black box were part of the team that went to carry out the action targeting the president’s residence in Marmaris on July 15, 2016. He said these elements strengthened the assessment that the incident was an organized operation.

Gürlek further claimed that the pilot of the aircraft flying over the helicopter had met with Adil Öksüz and Kemal Batmaz before the incident. He said it had been determined that Öksüz traveled to the United States before the helicopter crash and returned to Türkiye before the crash, adding that this information was also being examined as part of the investigation.

“Everyone responsible will be investigated”

Gürlek said the investigation would not be limited to any particular group and that everyone responsible for the incident would be investigated. He said the state was obliged to clarify an allegation of murder, adding that the investigation would pursue the case to its darkest point and that efforts would continue to satisfy the public conscience.

Gülefer Yazıcıoğlu said the family was pleased that the incident had been taken seriously years later. Saying that she did not want to return to what had happened in the past, Yazıcıoğlu expressed hope that the investigation would be concluded this time and that the family would find peace.

Fatih Furkan Yazıcıoğlu said he was 14 when his father died and that the incident had extended across half of his life. Saying that they had never lost their pursuit of justice and their rights, Yazıcıoğlu thanked Minister Gürlek and those who had contributed, and conveyed the greetings of the families of other fallen victims.

Justice Minister Gürlek says 21 people are detained in Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu case