Man sentenced to 5 years in prison for shooting incident in north Cyprus

The case of a man who flew in from Turkey in December 2023 to shoot someone for 200,000 Turkish Lira, has been concluded and sentenced to five years in prison.

The judgement against the defendant Abdulkadir Yavuz, 53, a Turkish national was delivered by the Lefkosa district court on Monday Sept. 23.

Yavuz said he regretted his actions and only shot at the vehicle, not the person.

The incident occurred in Lefkosia at around 6.51 am, on December 27, 2023 when Yavuz fired two shots at a parked car belonging to Bilal Tula. 

The incident was reported to the police at around 8:00am, who found two empty shells and two deformed bullets at the scene. After a detailed investigation, Yavuz was identified, and the rental car he used was found abandoned at the bus terminal in Lefkosia. Inside the car, police found a 9 mm handgun, along with 32 live bullets, which were taken as evidence.

Further investigation revealed that Yavuz had taken a taxi to Ercan Airport and was attempting to flee on a Turkish Airlines flight. The plane was ordered to return, and Yavuz was arrested.

He was arrested at Ercan Airport while trying to escape. 

He was taken to court and charged with “illegal possession of firearms and explosives,” “firing in a residential area,” “intentional damage,” and “discharging a firearm”.

Delivering the judgement, the judge emphasized that crimes and security problems were increasing in the country and stated that the public was concerned about these widespread crimes.

The judge noted that it is unacceptable for someone to come to North Cyprus to commit a crime and easily obtain weapons and bullets, and that serious punishments should be given to those who commit such crimes.

In court, Yavuz admitted he was hired to shoot someone but regretted it, deciding to fire only at the car. 

The judge said they have decided to sentenced to five years in prison. After the verdict, Yavuz commented saying, “See, having a conscience doesn’t help”.