In Adana, Y.Ö. (17) and his relative Berzan Özden (19), accused of killing Erkan Efe Dağoğlu (17) with a gun while sitting by a stream with their friends, and Can Sayğılı (21), his brother Deniz Sayğılı (20) and their father İrfan Sayğılı (44), who allegedly instigated the murder due to a blood feud between them, started to stand trial with the demand for aggravated life imprisonment. Murder suspect Y.Ö. claimed that Erkan Efe Dağoğlu slapped him for the girl and threatened him with death and said, “I bought a gun with my school pocket money. When I saw Erkan, I panicked and shot him. I had no intention to kill him.”
On October 22, 2023, in Kiremithane Neighborhood of Yüreğir district, Erkan Efe Dağoğlu allegedly died due to an armed attack by Y.Ö. while chatting with his friends on the street. The murder suspect Y.Ö. and his relative Berzan Özden, who was waiting for him on a motorcycle, were arrested. The Public Prosecutor filed a lawsuit against the arrested defendants Y.Ö. and Berzan Özden and İrfan Sayğılı and his children Can and Deniz Sayğılı, who are alleged to have instigated the 2 defendants, at Adana 1st High Criminal Court on the charges of ‘premeditated murder of a child or a person who cannot defend himself in terms of body or spirit with the motive of bloodshed and instigation to murder’.
3 MEMBERS OF DAĞOĞLU FAMILY AND 1 MEMBER OF SAYGILI FAMILY KILLED
The indictment stated that the Sayğılı and Dağoğlu families had started a feud over the murders of Erkan Dağoğlu on October 5, 20212 and Samet Dağoğlu on March 8, 2014, and that Can, his brother Deniz and their father İrfan Sayğılı held the Dağoğlu family responsible for the murder of their older brother Savaş Sayğılı on April 8, 2022 and instigated the murder of Erkan Efe Dağoğlu.
FIRST HEARING
The first hearing was held regarding the murder of Erkan Efe Dağoğlu. Arrested defendants Y.Ö. and Berzan Özden, other defendants who were given judicial control orders, Erkan Efe Dağoğlu’s father Murat, mother Neslihan Dağoğlu and lawyers of the parties attended the hearing. High school student Y.Ö., one of the defendants, claimed that Erkan Efe asked him to leave by beating him in front of his friends because he was friends with a girl. Y.Ö. also claimed that he slapped him and threatened him with death for the girl in the park in front of his friends. Y.Ö. said, “Upon the death threat, I saved my school fees and bought a gun for 1500 or 2 thousand liras about 2 weeks before the incident. While I was walking by the canal, I saw Erkan walking with his friends. Fearing that he would attack me again, I shot in panic. I had no intention of killing him. I do not know the Sayğılı family.”
‘I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE INCIDENT’
Berzan Özden denied the accusation. Defendants Can, his brother Deniz and their father İrfan Sayğılı claimed that they had nothing to do with the incident. Murat Dağoğlu, the father of murdered Erkan Efe Dağoğlu, and his mother Neslihan Dağoğlu filed a complaint against the defendants. Father Dağoğlu said, “There is enmity between the Sayğılı family and my uncle’s son Samet because they killed him. When my son Erkan shared the photo of Samet’s older brother Zafer on social media, he was threatened by the Sayğılı family. My son told me about this situation. While I was in prison, the Sayğılı family fired a gun at the house where my family was, and finally I learned that my son was killed.”
‘WE WERE THREATENED’
Mother Neslihan Dağoğlu said, “İrfan Sayğılı killed our relative Samet Dağoğlu and we were threatened afterwards. My son was harmed because he shared photos of his relatives on social media” and demanded the defendants to be punished in the most severe way. The court decided to continue detention of Y.Ö. and Berzan Özden and adjourned the hearing for the completion of the missing details.
