Six jailed in Turkey for Halil Falyali murder

Four men were on Friday handed long prison sentences in Istanbul for the murder of Turkish Cypriot businessman Halil Falyali and his chauffeur in February 2022.

Mustafa Soylemez, who fired the fatal shots, was handed two life sentences for the premeditated murder of two people, while Abdurrahim Celik, Cengiz Sener, and Ender Yildiz were all sentenced to 25 years in prison for aiding and abetting the murder.

Soylemez’s brother Mehmet Faysal Soylemez was acquitted and released, having been charged with two counts of premeditated murder and having established and leading a criminal organisation. Metin Sus was also acquitted of all charges.

Halil Falyali was killed alongside his chauffeur Murat Demirtas in the early hours of February 8, 2022, when his car was ambushed by men armed with automatic rifles on the road between Kyrenia and Ayios Epiktitos, where he lived.

He was pronounced dead at the Near East University hospital on the outskirts of Nicosia, with the autopsy revealing he had been struck by a total of 16 bullets. Demirtas had been struck by six bullets.

His wife and children were following his car in a second vehicle and were not harmed.

He was the owner of the Les Ambassadeurs hotel and casino in Kyrenia and had long suffered accusations of links to the underworld.

Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker had claimed that a drugs ring involving former Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirim’s son Erkam Yildirim was laundering money via Falyali.

Falyali was also arrested in October 2021, having been accused of assaulting an employee who he accused of stealing from his casino, and threatening the employee with his life.

However, the complainant later withdrew his accusations and Falyali was released before the complainant himself was sentenced to two years in prison the following year.

Meanwhile, a day after Falyali’s arrest, an obscene video involving the then ‘prime minister’ of the north Ersan Saner was leaked to the media, with Sedat Peker’s adviser Emre Olur claiming that Peker had obtained the footage from Falyali.

Elsewhere, a warrant for his arrest had been issued in the United States in 2016 on money laundering and drug charges.