Five detained in reopened probe into 2015 rifle attack on Fenerbahçe team bus

Five suspects have been detained in a reopened investigation into a 2015 armed attack on a bus carrying football players and staff from Fenerbahçe, Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced.

The attack took place on Apr 4, 2015, after Fenerbahçe defeated rival Trabzonspor 4-1 in a Süper Lig match. The team bus was traveling from Trabzon to the neighboring Black Sea province of Rize’s airport following the match when it came under fire while crossing a viaduct.

The driver was seriously wounded after a bullet struck his face but managed to bring the bus to a stop. With the vehicle on a viaduct at the time of the shooting, the attack put the entire team at risk.

The team’s head coach İsmail Kartal had recounted the incident in detail on its seventh anniversary in 2022:

There was a light rain when the shooting occurred. There was a doctor and a bodyguard sitting next to the driver. They held onto the driver to keep him from losing control. “Hit the brakes, hit the brakes!” they shouted. Everyone inside the bus was screaming and shouting. The bus veered right and left for 100–150 meters. We barely managed to stop. 

I have an interest in guns and hunting. I immediately realized what kind of bullet had been fired at us. Two shots were fired. The first one pierced the first layer of the double-paned glass at the front of the bus and got stuck in the second layer. The second bullet hit the side window. Since there was only a single pane of glass, it pierced through and struck the driver in the head. He was bleeding. Everyone panicked.

An investigation launched after the attack failed to identify those responsible.

Gürlek said authorities had reassessed the evidence in the case and carried out an operation targeting five suspects. Searches and seizures were conducted at the suspects’ addresses, he added.

“The sole purpose of this investigation is to identify, with concrete evidence, the person or persons behind this heinous attack carried out 11 years ago,” said the minister. “Regardless of which team, athlete or supporter group it targets, our stance against violence in sports is clear.”

Gürlek announced on May 27 that the investigation had been reopened as part of a Justice Ministry initiative to resolve unsolved crimes.

The initiative began after Gürlek was appointed justice minister in February and has led to the reopening of several high-profile cases that remained unsolved for years.

The cases include the 1993 assassination of journalist Uğur Mumcu, the 1990 assassination of journalist Çetin Emeç, the 1987 assassination of writer, politician and theologian Bahriye Üçok, and the 2020 disappearance of university student Gülistan Doku.

Gürlek previously said nearly 700 case files were under review.

(VK)