A much-anticipated trial over the killing of Sinan Ateş, former head of the nationalist Idealists’ Hearths, opened in the capital, Ankara, on Monday. The man who was accused of firing a fatal shot and the suspect accused of ordering a hit on Ateş denied the allegations and claimed someone else killed Ateş.

Ateş was shot dead in December 2022 in Ankara in a murder that stirred up controversy. The opposition parties implied that the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) associated with the Hearths may have been involved in the murder. Lawyers for MHP sought to attend the first hearing of the trial in a maximum-security prison-courthouse complex to defend against the accusations, but the court rejected their involvement.

Leaders of opposition parties, from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) to the Good Party (IP), attended the hearing, to support the widow of Ateş who repeatedly called authorities for an in-depth investigation. Ayşe Ateş, who recently met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has sought protection, claiming she was being threatened.

E.Ö., the main murder suspect, told the first hearing that he fired shots at the feet of Ateş and claimed someone else also fired shots. "I heard someone shouting ‘we shot the reis’ (a name given to heads of the Hearths)," E.Ö. repeated his initial testimony to investigators after his capture and said D.Ç., who is among 22 defendants in the case, and said the latter ordered him to injure Ateş only. "(D.Ç.) called me after I fled the scene and told me he was dead. He was angered and said he told me to shoot him in the leg. I told him that I just did it."

D.Ç. echoed the murder suspect’s testimony and said he sent E.Ö. to shoot Ateş in the leg, claiming he "paid" Ateş to help him cover up a criminal case against him, but Ateş did not help him. "I am wondering whose bullet killed him. I want it investigated," he told the court. Other suspects claimed innocence and said they were not aware of the murder and merely helped suspects they knew of seeking to intimidate Ateş.