During the trial into the death of Sevak Balikci—the Istanbul Armenian who was killed, on April 24, 2011, in a military unit while serving in the Turkish army—Halil Eksi, who had witnessed the incident, confessed to giving false testimony earlier.  

After having ended his military service, Eksi confessed to signing under a false testimony, which was read in the courtroom, Sabah daily of Turkey informs. 

Halil Eksi claimed that a certain Bulent Kaya, who had presented himself as the uncle of Kivanc Agaoglu—the soldier who killed Sevak Balikci—had contacted him, prior to the court hearing, and said it would be good for him to testify in Kivanc’s favor. Bulent then gave him a paper which Halil signed under. During the hearing on September 9, 2011, this paper was read, in which it was stated that he had not seen how the shot was fired, but he is convinced that it was accidental. And during the hearing on December 27, Eksi confessed to what had transpired. “Kivanc loaded the rifle, aimed it at Sevak, and fired. But I do not know why he killed Sevak,” the eyewitness ex-soldier said.       

To note, Sevak Balikci was killed by Kivanc Agaoglu, but the Turkish gendarmerie had stated that the death had occurred accidentally while the soldiers were joking around. Kivanc Agaoglu was released at the very first court hearing, and on the grounds that he has no reason to escape. The Turkish Military Prosecutor’s Office demands a mere nine-year sentence for Agaoglu, and on charges of “murder as a result of negligence.”