10 OCTOBER 2015 ANKARA TRAIN STATION MASSACRE
THE TRIAL PROCESS
-BRIEF INFORMATION –
The date 10 October 2015 has changed the lives of ten thousands of people, who had come from all over the country to meet in Ankara for the Labor, Peace and Democracy Rally, so that they will never be the same again. After the massacre, in which 103 people lost their lives, over 400 people were injured and which was witnessed moment by moment by tens of thousands of people, began the great struggle for justice.
Trial process for 10 October Ankara Massacre started with an investigation that was conducted with an order for limited access that continued for eight months. And once the investigation was over and the indictment was revealed, there was one picture with big mistakes and shortcomings. The indictment was prepared negligently without any deep analysis of the organization ISIS and without any serious research, based on digital materials of Yunus DURMAZ, who is said to have plotted the massacre.
With the indictment, there are total 36 accused charged. 15 accused were arrested at the stage of completing the indictment and filing the case, and 4 more accused were arrested during the trials; and the trial continued with total 19 people arrested. 14 accused were charged based on the legal articles regarding Attempting to Annihilate the Constitutional Order, Deliberate Murder, Attempted Deliberate Murder, while the remaining 22 accused were charged based on membership of an armed terrorist organization only. And the 16 accused named in the file, who are fugitives, have not been caught since the massacre.
After the case was filed before the Ankara 4th High Criminal Court, the trial process stated on 07 November 2016. Total 10 groups of hearings and 54 sessions took place starting from that date until 03 August 2018, when the court issued the order for the arrested accused. Throughout the trials, Ankara 4th High Criminal Court conducted an investigation that relied on the indictment and excluded all new evidence introduced from the discussion on merits.
The focus with regards to the massacre and trials was distanced from questions such as “how this massacre took place, whether it was preventable or not, and who, with what kind of responsibilities, were involved in this massacre”. However, each document and each response to correspondences received during the trials revealed that there is a huge ISIS organization, especially in Gaziantep and Adıyaman. This organization, which began starting from Al Qaida times, grew bigger and stronger without facing any problems. Associations were opened, food fairs (kermes) were organized, tents were set up to give condolences and militants were organized. A portion of Turkey’s borders was controlled; all kinds of border activities, including smuggling, were perpetrated; militants were easily let through into and out of the country; and suicide bombers passed through.
The organization, followed up many official security units, was not prevented; the plotters of the massacre, who are named as accused in the file, were not caught and it was as if the massacre was watched as it was being built up step by step.
On the other hand, the 10 October Ankara Massacre took place despite tens of intelligence reports. It was revealed that Ankara Security Department received many intelligence reports from all over the country especially after the Suruc Massacre that took place in July 2015; that ISIS actions were expected in crowded organizations such as rallies and that such information was reported in September 2015. Intelligence reveals that even the names and photos of the suicide bombers were known. However, necessary measures were not taken for the Labor, Peace and Democracy Rally to take place in Ankara on 10 October; and actually, the measures were even weaker than the measures taken for rallies organized at the same place before. The organization committee was not informed and it became evident that necessary measures were not taken for the security of ten thousands of people to participate in the rally.
Ankara 4th High Criminal Court did not take all these evidences contained in the file into consideration and made the order for 19 arrested accused named in the file on 3 August 2018.
There is an order made for the 19 arrested accused only, with 9 accused sentenced to 101 times aggravated life imprisonment and thousands of years of imprisonment for attempted murder and 1 accused was made subject to a criminal complaint due to the massacre, while the remaining accused were penalized for membership of organization ranging between 7,5 years and 12 years.
For the 15 accused, who are fugitives, the file is severed and trial continues under a separate file number.