A man who opened fire on the İzmir office of the daily Evrensel has been formally arrested, while the driver who brought him to the scene was released after one day in custody.
The attack took place in the early hours of Aug 13, when İsa Can Biler fired several shots at the entrance of the newspaper’s office on Kıbrıs Şehitleri Avenue in the Alsancak district.
The bullets struck the exterior of the building, including the newspaper’s sign, where seven bullet holes were later identified. No one was inside the office at the time.
Biler was detained following the incident and later placed under arrest by the İzmir 2nd Penal Court of Peace. The court also ordered access to his and the driver’s communication records. The driver, identified as İbrahim Halil Yapıcı, was taken into custody after the incident but released the next day.
According to Evrensel, neither its İzmir office nor its headquarters was notified by authorities about Biler’s arrest. The charges brought against him were filed under "property damage."
BIA Media Monitoring Reports
'I was drunk'
In his testimony, Biler said he had no hostility toward Evrensel and was not directed by anyone to carry out the attack. "I did not specifically fire at that newspaper with any political motive or other intention. I was drunk at the time," he said.
He added that he had obtained the weapon months earlier from "a person whose name I do not know" and later discarded it in an open field.
Biler also rejected suggestions that Yapıcı was involved. "He had no connection to this incident. I told him I was going to meet a friend in Alsancak and asked him to drive me there," he said.
He admitted regret over the incident, stating, "I am remorseful for what I did, but as I said, no one directed me to carry it out."
When confronted with security footage showing him walking toward the building, Biler claimed he had not been aware of the office’s identity. "As seen in the footage, I was messaging a friend at the time and walked in that direction. But I did not know it was the Evrensel office, nor did I fire with any specific purpose," he said.
Following the attack, police examined the building and collected bullet casings, but Evrensel’s İzmir office was not informed during the inspection. The paper’s İzmir representative, Özer Akdemir, later filed a complaint with the police. (AB/VK)
