Turkey arrests 25 in Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu helicopter crash investigation
Justice Minister Akın Gürlek announced that a coordinated operation was carried out in ten Turkish provinces – Ankara, Istanbul, İzmir, Balıkesir, Adana, Antalya, Çanakkale, Bursa, Isparta and Afyonkarahisar – targeting 30 addresses linked to the 2009 helicopter crash that killed Büyük Birlik Partisi (BBP) leader Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and five others. The investigation, transferred to the Ankara Cumhuriyet Başsavcılığı on 12 June 2026, identified 29 suspects accused of forming, managing and joining an armed terrorist organization and of planning intentional homicide. Twenty‑five of those suspects were taken into custody; two were already serving prison sentences and two were located abroad, with efforts ongoing to apprehend the remaining fugitives. The operation also resulted in the seizure of firearms, ammunition and other weapons. Names of several military and police officers, as well as former civil crash‑investigation staff, were disclosed among those detained. The case, reopened after 17 years, is being pursued as a high‑profile criminal and political matter.