Prosecution demands aggravated life sentence for Sabancı assassination suspect

A prosecutor has demanded an aggravated life sentence for İsmail Akkol, one of the prime suspects in the 1996 assassination of Özdemir Sabancı who was arrested 20 years after the Sabancı Holding board member's killing.

Akkol stands accused of "attempting to change the constitutional order by force of arms." 

Prosecutors accuse Akkor and another suspect, Mustafa Duyar, of committing a number of criminal acts from 1995 until the assassination. Authorities also said the pair took the order for the assassination from a key figure in the outlawed Revolutionary People's Liberation Party-Front (DHKP-C), Ercan Kartal, in 1996.

According to the prosecutor's opinion, the suspects used a password among themselves, "Is my mother at home?" to communicate with the suspect in the assassination, Fehriye Erdal, who was working as a tea provider at Sabancı Holding.

Erdal, who was recently sentenced in absentia to 15 years in jail by a Belgian court for crimes in Turkey, allegedly postponed the assassination using the password because Sabancı was not at the holding at the time.

The suspects were primarily seeking Sakıp Sabancı, but they could not find him, the prosecutor's opinion said.

 The suspects fled abroad with fake passports which were provided by the DHKP-C, prosecutors allege.

Akkol was arrested on Feb. 4, 2016, after he and Fadik Adıyaman, both members of the DHKP-C, were detained in the Aegean province of Aydın on Feb. 2.  

Akkol was brought before the Istanbul 18th High Criminal Court to face charges over his role in the Sabancı assassination, whereas Adıyaman had already been convicted of "membership in a terror organization." 

Turkish security forces launched an extensive operation in January...