ELİF AKGÜL

Istanbul – In 2019, Ercan Akkaş killed Seda Kurt in Istanbul’s Avcılar district. After killing her, Ercan Akkaş fled to Georgia. The sixth hearing in the Seda Kurt murder case was held by the Bakırköy 11th High Criminal Kurt. While Ercan Akkaş didn’t attend the hearing, many women were in front of the courthouse to follow the hearing.  Meriç Eyüboğlu, the lawyer of Seda Kurt’s family, told NuJINHA that they will struggle until the perpetrator Ercan Akkaş is extradited to Turkey.

“Ercan Akkaş has been protected”

Before the sixth hearing of the murder case, many women were in front of the courthouse and released a statement. “The perpetrator Ercan Akkaş has been protected and not arrested for exactly two and a half years. This case reveals how interstate agreements protect perpetrators, how law leaves women unprotected and the dirty relations of the police-drug trafficking -sect triangle,” the statement said.

Possible deportation rather than extradition

During the hearing, lawyer Meriç Eyüboğlu submitted the testimonies of eyewitness to the court regarding which the city and street Ercan Akkaş, who fled to Georgia right after the murder and hasn’t been not extradited yet, lives in Georgia. “Ercan Akkaş has been arrested in Georgia but he may be deported from the country rather than extradited to Turkey. For this reason, we ask the court to learn the new address of the accused from the Georgian government and repeat the extradition request,” she said. The chief judge told Meriç Eyüboğlu that they sent a document to the Directorate of Foreign Relations of the Ministry of Justice but no document has been sent to them about whether the extradition procedure has been carried out or not. “The next step will be determined by the political relations between Georgia and Turkey,” the chief judge added.

“The extradition procedure goes slow”

Meriç Eyüboğlu told NuJINHA that the extradition procedure in the Seda Kurt murder case has been “slowly taken” and that they will struggle until the perpetrator Ercan Akkaş is extradited to Turkey.

The next hearing will be held on October 27, 2022.

What had happened?

Seda Kurt was killed in front of her two children and mother November 4, 2019 in the Avcılar district of Istanbul by Ercan Akkaş. The perpetrator Ercan Akkaş, a member of the Gaylani sect, is also a drug dealer. Although there were many accusations against him, he wasn’t taken into custody after killing Seda Kurt. He left Turkey without facing any difficulties. A red notice was issued against him after women’s organizations demanded justice for Seda Kurt during the third hearing.