Killing of environmentalist couple not solved since 2017

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Ali Ulvi Büyüknohutçu and his spouse Aysin Büyüknohutçu, an environmentalist couple working against quarries in the Mediterranean region, were found dead in their house in Finike, Antalya, on May 9, 2017.

While the person who killed the couple was put in prison, owners of marble quarries in the region who were accused of inciting the murder were not prosecuted despite two separate complaints.

Emine Büyüknohutçu, the daughter of the couple, yesterday launched a social media campaign on the occasion of the fourth anniversary of the killings.

"My mother and father could not remain indifferent to the slaughter there," she told Öteki Hareketi. "They received many threats. There was an attempt to carry out an arson attack on their home two or three days before the incident.

"With regards to the trial process, many documents, evidence and proof were covered up, destroyed. As the family and ecology organizations, we were stopped. There were many things that we couldn't talk about.

"There are many points that we can't document. We want the instigator to be found, not the triggerman."

The perpetrator changed his statement

Ali Ulvi Büyüknohutçu was the spokesperson of the Taurus and Mediterranean Coasts Environment Association Platform for Combating Stone Quarries.

Working against quarries in the region, the couple ensured the closure of a quarry by taking legal action.

Gendarmerie found them dead on May 9, 2017, and detained Ali Yumaç, who lives in the same area.

He told the gendarmerie that he was unemployed and killed the two people for taking money from their house.

He changed his statement at the prosecutor's office on May 18 and said a man nicknamed "Çirkin" (Ugly) offered him money for the killing. He confessed that he killed the couple and made it look like a robbery.

Fatma Yumaç was arrested on May 19 for "aiding and abetting a crime." She said that she had seen the car of the person nicknamed "Çirkin" around their house and she had learned of the killings after they had happened.

She was acquitted and the appeals court upheld her acquittal without citing a reason. Her case is currently at the Court of Cassation, attorney Tuncay Koç told Yeşil Gazete.

Also, the decision of non-prosecution for the marble quarry owners was appealed and the case is currently at the Elmalı Penal Court of Peace, he said. (AÖ/VK)