1 The trial of Dylan and Engin Porat continued within the scope of the lawsuit filed in relation to the Banu Parlac beauty centre shooting, which became a social media phenomenon. During the hearing, Dylan Porat became ill and was taken out of the courtroom. As he became ill, Porat said: “Oh God, I am innocent. Please save me, God.”
A beauty center belonging to social media phenomenon Banu Parlak, located in Bahçeşehir Section 1 Natural Park, was shot at by a suspect on a motorbike between 2:00 am and 4:30 am on October 1, 2023.
2
The hearing of the case in which Dilan and Engin Polat were charged with “incitement” within the scope of the indictment prepared in this case continued at the Küçükçekmece Court. Dilan Polat, Engin Polat and Sezgin Polat attended the hearing at the Küçükçekmece Criminal Court of First Instance. Lawyers for Banu Parlak and his party, who withdrew the charges, also attended the hearing.
3
Dylan Porat cried and had a nervous attack
As the hearing was about to begin, Banu Parlak and Dylan Porat could no longer contain their tears and began to cry. Dylan Porat fell to the ground and cried, “Oh, God, I have done nothing wrong. Please, God, save me.” Dylan Porat, who was not feeling well, was taken out of the courtroom. Banu Parlak also cried and said, “Dylan, I’m here, look.”
Four
During the ongoing hearing, the judge said the request to merge the file with the organizational file at the Istanbul court had been rejected and the case was sent back to the court. Banu Parlak, whose petition to the court was read out, said she had abandoned her request to join with Dilan, Engin and Sezgin Polat, but had requested to join with the other defendants.
Five
Meanwhile, the person who submitted the petition, Gültekin Aran, said, “Barış Boyun is a person who works in the fight against terrorism in Istanbul and Europe. Daltons and Barış Boyun are under my command. I gave the order to shoot them. This is the workplace of Banü Parlak.”
6
The promised Engin and Sezgin Polat stated that they do not know the person who submitted the petition and have no information about it. The hearing will continue with the lawyers’ statements.
7
The indictment prepared by the Küçükçekmece Chief Prosecutor’s Office states that the defendant, Dilan Polat, sent threatening messages to Banu Parlak in videos he published on his social media accounts.
8
The indictment alleges that shortly after this message, Dilan and Engin Porat made a joint decision to carry out an armed attack on the complainant’s workplace, Berat Can, and one of the managers of the fugitive office, with the defendant Engin Porat, through his connections in Georgia, reportedly in contact with Batun Can Gökdemir, a member of the armed organized crime group commonly known as the “Daltons” gang.
9
The indictment states that the Gökdemir brothers gave instructions to defendants Bathan İncı, Yunus Emre Yıldız, Nizamettin Bilgil, Onur Abić and İsmail Emre Aliforoğlu, who were waiting in their private cell in Istanbul to prepare to act. The indictment states that the workplace was hit by bullets and four of the five exterior windows had to be replaced, with total damages from the attack amounting to 45,000 lira.
Ten
Following the incident, Banu Parlak filed a complaint against the Porat family for attempting to kill her, while Dylan Porat, in a statement, claimed that he had not made any threatening statements against Parlak, but was criticizing those who verbally attack her in general.
Defendant 11 Engin Polat said he heard about the attacks on social media, while Banu Parlak released a statement on social media two days before the attacks, condemning them and saying he did not know who did it.
The indictment charges the Porats with “soliciting intimidation with a deadly weapon by multiple persons” and “soliciting destruction of property.”
12
Barish Boyun, Berat Can and Batin Can Gökdemir were given a total of eight years and four months in prison for “establishing an armed criminal organisation” and “threatening with multiple firearms”. The charges of “damage to persons”, “damage to property” and “possession of unauthorised weapons” carried maximum sentences of 23 years.
The indictment sought prison sentences ranging from two years and four months to 23 years for the other defendants — Bathan İncı, İsmail Emre Arifoğlu, Nizamettin Bilgil, Onur Abic, Yunus Emre Yıldız and Sezgin Polat — on separate charges.
