Turkey: 2 get heavy jail terms for murder of prosecutor

By Murat Kaya

ISTANBUL (AA) - A Turkish court on Thursday gave aggravated life sentences to two convicts in the high-profile murder of a prosecutor in Istanbul in 2015, according to a judicial source.

Istanbul’s Heavy Penal Court No: 27 ruled Mustafa Kocak and Murat Canim attempted to overthrow the constitutional order and sentenced aggravated life sentences to both, said the source, who asked not to be named due to restrictions on talking to the media.

The court separately sentenced the suspects to 27 years in prison for aiding to kill the prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, 12 years for depriving a public servant of his liberty using arms and three years for violating the firearms law.

Mehmet Selim Kiraz was martyred after being taken as hostage in his office at Istanbul’s Caglayan Courthouse by two far-left DHKP-C terrorists, who had gained access to the building by posing as lawyers.

After hours of negotiations between Turkish police and the two hostage-takers, Kiraz was shot in the head by his captors and later died.

DHKP-C is responsible for a number of terror attacks in Turkey including the 2013 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Ankara, which left a Turkish security guard martyred and a Turkish journalist injured.

The far-left group is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S., and the European Union.