Police have recovered a revolver believed to have been used in the murder of six young Turkish men in Loutsa, a town in Attica, central Greece, earlier this month.
The murdered men, all Turkish citizens, were shot on 11 September, allegedly by other Turks, in an incident that bore all the hallmarks of a gangland execution, according to local media reports.
A 9mm revolver was found last week a couple of kilometres from the scene of the murders. Although the weapon had no fingerprints, forensic ballistic tests found that the gun was one of the weapons used in the murders.
Preliminary investigations by Greek police suggest a turf war between gangs involved in drug trafficking across Europe had led to the killings. Media reports suggest the murdered men were close to Istanbul mafia boss Barış Boyun, who is head of Daltonlar Çetesi[Daltons’ Gang] and is believed to be currently residing in Italy.
Boyun’s gang is suspected of at least ten murders in the past few years, often carried out in the street by motorcycle hitmen. These executions have led to reprisals, with tit-for-tat killings taking place not just in Turkiye, but also abroad including in France, Georgia, Abkhazia and now Greece.
All six men killed in Loutsa, a town 35 km outside of the Greek capital Athens, are believed to have been members of Daltonlar Çetesi. Initial reports suggest the men were sat in a navy coloured car with fake German number plates, which was parked in front of a house along a dirt track when they were allegedly fired upon by other men on motorbikes.
The assailants are thought to have used between four to six weapons, including a Kalashnikov gun. One of the victims is believed to have exited the car but died on the street before ambulances and police arrived.
Two of the six murdered men were named by Turkish media as Doruk B. and Oğuzhan H. The pair were known close associates of Boyun, who had eluded efforts by the Turkish authorities to arrest them following a big raid in April, where police targeted the homes of dozens of suspected gang members, detaining many.
Doruk B., Oğuzhan H., and the other four killed in Loutsa were all found to be carrying fake French passports. Some media reports have suggested the six were on their way to Italy, but their location was betrayed to enemies of Daltonlar Çetesi, who assassinated Boyun’s men.
Greek police found more than 200 bullet casings at the scene and quickly launched a large-scale operation to catch the perpetrators, who fled the scene on bikes and a black getaway vehicle.
They arrested a 32-year-old Turkish national named Suleyman D. at Athens International Airport a few hours after the Loutsa attack. He is being treated as a key figure in the case.
Separately, Turkish police are believed to have thwarted a revenge attack. Ten men were arrested in Istanbul on 21 September, including the brothers of Abdurrahman Tekrü, who was among those killed in Loutsa.
The murder investigation in Greece continues.
