(Daily Sabah)

A THIRD assailant of the controversial murder of Özdemir Sabancı in 1996 and a member of the far-left DHKP-C terror organization, İsmail Akkol, was taken Thursday morning to Istanbul’s 18th Criminal court, where an arrest warrant was issued for him.

The suspect used his right to remain silent in the courthouse, giving no testimony to the allegations.

Akkol being taken to court in Istanbul (Anadolu Ajansı)

Akkol was one of the alleged assailants in the murder of Özdemir Sabancı, who was assassinated on January 9, 1996 in his office in Sabancı Towers in the district of Levent in Istanbul along with Haluk Görgün, the general manager of ToyotaSA, and Secretary Nilgün Hasefe.

Sabancı was a board member and division head of the family business Sabancı Holding, one of the largest industrial and financial conglomerates in Turkey by profit.

Akkol was also the suspected assailant of an attack that killed two Turkish gendarmerie officers in Istanbul’s Maslak district in 1995.

İsmail Akkol was captured on Tuesday at Soke Bus Station having travelled via Didim from Greece.

Fadik Adıyaman (C), Photo: Anadolu Agency

Akkol was detained at the scene along with another top suspect in the case concerning the murder of businessman Sabancı, Fadik Adıyaman.

The two suspects were found to be in possession of long-barreled weapons and explosives, and they were reportedly on their way to carry out a terrorist attack on an unspecified target.

The two DHKP-C militants had fled Turkey after the Sabancı assassination in 1996. Erdal was captured in Belgium in 1999 but was not extradited to Turkey despite numerous efforts. She was acquitted of all charges in 2008, and went missing.

Erdal was also brought to the Istanbul courthouse on Thursday. The court similarly issued an arrest warrant for Erdal, because of the previous sentence that was given to her for being a member of the DHKP-C terrorist organization.