The Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has overturned its previous decision not to prosecute the death of former National Intelligence Organization (MİT) official Kaşif Kozinoğlu in Silivri Prison in 2011.
Kozinoğlu was initially detained in a March 2011 Ergenekon probe. The Ergenekon trials were a series of high profile legal proceedings in Turkey from 2008 to 2019 where 275 people, including high ranking military officers, opposition political party leaders, journalists and lawyers were accused of being part of “Ergenekon” — a clandestine nationalist organization allegedly dedicated to overthrowing the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government.
On November 12, 2011, only 13 days before Kozinoğlu was supposed to stand trial, he fell ill in Silivri No. 1 L-Type Prison, where he was being held at the time. He died shortly after being transferred to Silivri State Hospital.
His son, Özel Kozinoğlu, had claimed that his father had no heart problems whatsoever.
In the investigation conducted following the initial incident, camera recordings and medical documents were examined. Statements from the penal execution institution, gendarmerie, medical personnel and cellmates were also taken. However, on April 10, 2012, the prosecution office issued a decision that there were no grounds for prosecution and closed the file.
ERGENEKON INVESTIGATION
Member of National Intelligence Agency Arrested
As part of the reopened investigation, the prosecutor’s office initiated legal action against 11 subjects serving at the penal execution institution on the date of the incident. 10 suspects were detained.
Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek announced that the file regarding Kozinoğlu's death was being re-examined by the Department for Investigation of Unsolved Crimes.
He said the following:
“In light of the evaluations made by our Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, the non-prosecution decision was lifted by the decision of the Silivri Peace Criminal Court dated August 26, 2026, and the investigation was reopened. Within the scope of the new investigation, a confidentiality order was issued, a special investigation team was formed, and comprehensive efforts aimed at shedding light on all aspects of the incident afresh were launched. At the stage reached today, legal action has been initiated by our Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office against 11 suspects who were serving in the penal execution institution on the date of the incident, 10 suspects have been detained, and 1 suspect was determined to be abroad as a FETÖ fugitive.”
Who is Kaşif Kozinoğlu?
Upon graduating from the Turkish Military Academy in 1976, the former MİT agent served in the Turkish Armed Forces. In 1986, he was placed in charge of Special Operations teams training. And in 1987, he took part in the establishment of an MİT unit intended to operate abroad. Under the instructions of Hakan Fidan, who served as the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the time, Kozinoğlu was assigned to the Asia Region with the title of "Chief Advisor” in September 2010. Kozinoğlu went on to serve in Syria, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Afghanistan. He rose all the way to the Head of the Department of Foreign Operations at MİT.
On March 10, 2011, an investigation was launched against him within the scope of the Ergenekon and Odatv cases on charges of "being a member of an armed terrorist organization" and "obtaining and leaking cosmic state documents." He was arrested and held at Silivri No. 1 L-Type Prison.
(IK/HA)
