Sevag Şahin Balıkçı

Sevag Şahin Balıkçı (April 1, 1986 – April 24, 2011) was a Turkish soldier of Armenian descent who was shot to death during compulsory military service. The incident occurred on April 24, 2011, the remembrance day of the Armenian genocide. The perpetrator Kıvanç Ağaoğlu was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. However, there have been several eye-witness accounts and testimonies that claim that the shooting was not accidental as the official reports suggest, but intentional. Other reports claim that the shooting was a hate crime towards Balıkçı's Armenian identity.

After the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, military courts were suspended in Turkey and the case was sent to the Kozluk Criminal Court of First Instance of Batman where a retrial started on February 8, 2018. According to the verdict of the Kozluk Criminal Court of First Instance, Kıvanç Ağaoğlu has been found guilty of deliberate murder and sentenced to 16 years and 8 months of imprisonment

Death

Sevag Balıkçı was killed by a gunshot in Batman, southeastern Turkey where he was serving his last 23 days as a conscripted private. Official reports from military commanders in Batman given to the Balıkçı family argued that Sevag was killed unintentionally while "joking around" with his friend. The family believed the initial reports and claimed that their son should not be considered a martyr since he died accidentally. Sevag's fiancée, however, called the report into question because, according to their conversations on the phone with Balıkçı, he was being harassed by ultra-nationalist soldier(s). Through his Facebook profile, it was discovered that he was a sympathizer of nationalist politician Muhsin Yazıcıoğlu and Turkish agent / contract killer Abdullah Çatlı, who himself had a history of Anti-Armenian activity such as the Armenian Genocide Memorial bombing in a Paris suburb in 1984. His Facebook profile also showed that he was a sympathizerof the Great Union Party (BBP), a far-right nationalist party in Turkey. The Balıkçı family was represented by lawyer Cem Halavurt while Kıvanç Ağaoğlu is represented by lawyer İbrahim Gök. The Balıkçı family insisted that the shooting was not accidental but intentional and that the suspect should have been charged with murder. The Turkish Military Prosecutor's Office demanded a nine-year sentence for Kıvanç Ağaoğlu on the charge of “murder as a result of negligence.” Kıvanç Ağaoğlu continues to deny all charges of first-degree murder insisting that his gun went off accidentally. Upon suspicion of negligence among the commanders at the military station, non-commissioned officer Sadrettin Ersöz who is represented by lawyer Yalçın Torun was also charged with negligence in the alleged killing. During the trial an eyewitness provided details regarding the shooting. The eyewitness testified that Kıvanç Ağaoğlu threatened Sevag by saying, "I will kill you fatty!".

During the trial's fifth hearing on December 27, 2011, testimony emerging from Halil Ekşi, a conscripted soldier who was serving in the same military unit as Sevag Balıkçı, stated that Balıkçı's death was not accidental as the official reports suggest, but intentional. The testimony also suggested that Halil Ekşi was visited by Kıvanç Ağaoğlu's uncle Bülent Kaya who wrote the testimony with Ekşi himself, suggesting pressure was applied towards the eyewitnesses. The Balıkçı family lawyer Cem Halavurt declared that a new lawsuit will be filed against the uncle and sister of Ağaoğlu for the obstruction of justice. The judge during the hearing also stated that it was a "matter of honor" for him to reach a fair verdict in the case. His fiancé was told by Sevag through telephone conversations with him that he feared for his life because a certain military serviceman threatened him by saying, "If war were to happen with Armenia, you would be the first person I would kill". According to the testimony, Sevag was also under pressure to convert to Islam.

During the trial's ninth hearing on November 5, 2012, defense lawyer İbrahim Gök requested a media ban on all further hearings. However, the decision was overturned by the Military Supreme Court in July 2014 on the basis that "legal documents did not include the court's name," and the trial was reinitiated in December 2014. In the meantime, one of the witnesses of the trial who first stated that Balıkçı was killed intentionally

On March 26, 2013, Kıvanç Ağaoğlu was convicted by the Diyarbakır 2nd Air Force Command Military Court for murder with deliberate negligence and sentenced to four years five months and ten days of imprisonment. Later, the Military Supreme Court has overturned the ruling and sent the case for reconsideration. After 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt, military courts were suspended in Turkey and the case was sent to the Kozluk Criminal Court of First Instance of Batman where the retrial started on February 8, 2018. According to the verdict of the Kozluk Criminal Court of First Instance, Kıvanç Ağaoğlu has been found guilty of deliberate murder and sentenced to 16 years and 8 months of imprisonment

Criminology report In May 2015, a criminology report was conduct on Balıkçı and it was discovered that 41 bullet holes were found in his military uniform. It was initially stated by the military commandment at the time of the murder that there were two bullet holes.

Justice initiative A justice initiative was launched in Turkey devoted to the case of Sevag Balıkçı. Members of the panel include the mother of Sevag, Ani Balıkçı, Arat Dink, Kerem Kabadayı, Ufuk Uras, Rakel Dink, and others. The initiative protested the court's decision in letting suspect Kıvanç Ağaoğlu free and proclaimed that Sevag was murdered due to a hate crime. Kerem Kabadayı remarked that "If this hate crime goes unpunished, the Armenian youth in Turkey will be under threat."