Interior Minister’s Cousin killed in gunfight in Northern Turkey

The Turkish Interior Minister’s cousin Sefa Donmez was shot and killed on Monday night over a quarrel in Trabzon, Turkey. The perpetrator was identified as Faruk Ulusoy, but the motive or any links to the crime are yet to be determined. 

Minister Suleyman Soylu immediately flew to Trabzon to attend the funeral of his cousin. 

AKP’s (Justice and Development Party) local leader Ahmet Capoglu witnessed the incident where Ulusoy shot Donmez, Sozcu newspaper reported. Donmez was rushed to the hospital but soon died. Ulusoy later turned himself in to the police and handed the suspected murder weapon. 

Last year, over a partnership dispute about a yacht company in Marmaris, a vacation resort in southern Turkey, Donmez allegedly intimidated one of the partners, Cumhuriyet reported. 

“Sefa Donmez clamped down on us threatening to use his connections from the government. He repeatedly said he was Soylu’s cousin,” Suna Oztasdonderen, the businessman’s lawyer, said, according to Cumhuriyet.

The Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu is known to have wide popular support, especially in his hometown Trabzon region where the killing took place. A prominent member of Erdogan’s cabinet and a deputy chairman of the ruling AKP (Justice and Development Party,) he is seen by many party members as a potential presidential candidate after Erdogan.