Turkish prosecutors have opened a murder investigation into the 2016 death of a religious group leader, naming his successor Alihan Kuriş among several people under investigation, amid growing pressure on the Süleymanlılar religious community.
The investigation concerns Arif Ahmet Denizolgun, a former transport minister who led the group until his death.
A forensic expert classified the death as suspicious after reviewing the old autopsy records.
The expert said four bruises appeared to have occurred before death.
The report offered pressure on the chest and a pillow covering the mouth and nose as one possible explanation, but it did not find that this had happened.
It concluded only that an intentional killing could not be ruled out.
The report also said the 2016 finding that Denizolgun died naturally from a brain hemorrhage lacked enough medical evidence, while the role of several detected heavy metals could not be assessed because their levels were not recorded.
Further tests will be carried out on samples kept from 2016 and samples taken after Denizolgun’s remains were exhumed this month.
Prosecutors are also investigating doctors who signed the first report and a Council of Forensic Medicine (ATK) official on suspicion of falsifying official records after the agency first denied that an autopsy video existed and later produced it.
Kuriş has not responded to the murder investigation, but he has denied the financial crime accusations and called them an attempt to ruin his reputation.
A Turkish court meanwhile jailed 10 people pending trial in the separate financial case, including Kuriş’s brother, bringing the known number jailed in that case to at least 42.
Police also claimed to have seized 37 folders of financial records from a home in Antalya, along with checks worth 27.8 million lira ($578,000), 3 million lira ($63,000) in cash, foreign currency, gold, digital devices and ammunition during the latest searches.
Prosecutors issued warrants for 54 people in that operation, detaining 38 while 13 remained at large, two were abroad and one was already in prison.
The investigations followed claims by former Justice and Development Party (AKP) lawmaker Fatih Süleyman Denizolgun, the former leader’s nephew, as well as years of calls from politicians and media close to President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for action against a community whose leadership has not backed the ruling party.
This article is republished from Turkish Minute.
