A Turkish court yesterday ordered the imprisonment of a fugitive who fatally shot a police officer during an altercation following the theft of a motorbike in Istanbul, amid public outrage that an individual with a long criminal record was at large.
According to Turkish agencies, the murder took place on Sunday 22 September at around 22:55 local time, when the accused, 19-year-old Yunus Emre Geçti, escaped from a police station in Ümraniye, a district on the Asian side of Istanbul, after being caught in a police operation on charges of stealing motorbikes.
During the police chase, officers managed to intercept him in the Ihlamurkuyu neighbourhood but the fugitive resisted, and during the struggle with the officers he managed to get hold of a gun and fired several shots; one of the bullets hit the head of Şeyda Yılmaz, a 27-year-old officer who was rushed to hospital, where she died of her injuries. Two other people were injured in the incident, including another police officer, while the fugitive was captured shortly afterwards.
During yesterday’s transfer to the court that ordered his imprisonment, Geçti was taken from the police station by two female police officers who forced him to wear a rubbish bag as a gesture of humiliation for his crime; in addition, the suspected perpetrator was transported in a vehicle used by the police to transport animals. Although he initially claimed not to remember what happened, he later confessed the murder in court.
According to local press reports, the murdered police officer had joined the force only 9 months ago and had dreamed all her life of becoming a policewoman. As for the fugitive accused of the crime, he had a criminal record of up to 26 crimes, including robbery, sexual harassment, assault and damage to property. Both media in Turkey and citizens on social media have expressed outrage that an individual with such a criminal record was at large, despite having been previously arrested on his charges.
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Edited and reviewed by:
Pablo Gómez is a specialist in Turkey and has been editor-in-chief of Hispanatolia since 2011. He has been analysing current affairs and geopolitics in Turkey and the surrounding region since 2006.
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