The wife of Sinan Ateş, a former far-right nationalist leader assassinated in 2022, has chosen not to attend a hearing on Wednesday, where eight people, including nationalist movement leaders, are standing trial for his murder, saying she has lost faith in the justice system, the Stockholm Center for Freedom reported.
Ateş was fatally shot in Ankara on December 30, 2022. The murder sparked widespread controversy due to his role as the former head of the ultranationalist Grey Wolves, the paramilitary wing of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), which is allied with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The case has been marked by accusations of political interference by right-wing MHP figures who have been accused of orchestrating the murder.
The case is being tried at the Ankara 32nd High Criminal Court. Initially, the trial involved 22 defendants, five of whom were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for premeditated murder in October 2024. Another six defendants received sentences ranging from two to 18 years on charges of aiding and abetting murder and assisting a criminal.
The defendants denied the murder was politically motivated and said it occurred over “money disputes.”
Ateş’s family, along with some politicians, lawyers and journalists, argue that the investigation and the prosecutor’s indictment were severely lacking. They said the indictment failed to properly evaluate expert opinions or reports, that there was no explanation of why the murder was committed and that the reasons for the crime were insufficiently addressed. Furthermore, the indictment did not give enough attention to the evidence presented in the case, they said.
Ayşe Ateş strongly criticized the indictment, calling it a “worthless piece of paper.” She expressed her frustration, saying the indictment was treated like a simple dispute instead of a political assassination.
Ateş’s widow has repeatedly said the investigation was not being handled properly and called for further exploration of possible political motives and connections behind her husband’s murder. She said the defendants who received prison sentences were a few “low-level individuals” and that the real culprits — higher ranking people in the nationalist movement — had not stood trial.
She revealed that her husband had been threatened months before the murder. She described an incident on March 10, 2022, when a black car belonging to the Ankara Ülkü Ocakları, a far-right nationalist organization, was parked in front of Ateş’s office. She shared a photo of the car with a friend, stating that it contained armed individuals.
Ayşe Ateş said she has lost faith in the justice system and will not attend the trial or continue participating in the legal process until she sees real accountability and fairness.