Four suspects in the murder of three members of the Şenyaşar family by people connected to İbrahim Halil Yıldız, a lawmaker from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), were arrested on Wednesday, according to local media reports.
Esvet Şenyaşar and two of his sons, Adil and Celal, were brutally murdered on June 14, 2018 in southeastern Şanlıurfa province.
Celal, the brother of the AKP lawmaker Yıldız, and other relatives İbrahim Şimşek, Mikail Şimşek and Müslüm Yıldız were arrested by the Turkish police.
Esvet’s wife, Emine Şenyaşar and his son began a sit-in in March 2021 and have continued their protest since then in front of the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, demanding justice for their family members.
Şenyaşar family members were initially attacked in their store and taken to a hospital. However, they were followed by the family of AKP deputy Yıldız to the hospital, where they were ultimately murdered. Eight more people were injured during clashes between the two groups. An older brother of Yıldız was also killed.
According to Ferit Şenyaşar, bullets from 17 different guns were retrieved from the body of one of his brothers.
Two Şenyaşar brothers, Ferit and Fadıl, who were injured but survived, were later detained, and Fadıl Şenyaşar was arrested. However, none of Yıldız’s relatives or his bodyguards were detained despite the fact that three people had died.
Only 15 months later, on September 18, 2020, was Yıldız’s older brother Enver Yıldız arrested.
The Yıldız family claimed the Kurdish Şenyaşar family had links to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and that they had been victims of terrorism.
