A Turkish court has announced the verdict over the murder of serviceman Sevak Shahin Balikci at a military unit in Turkey on April 24, 2011.

As reported Istanbul’s Agos Armenian Weekly, the Turkish Civil Court has ruled to sentence accused-on-trial Kvanc Agaoglu to 16 years and 8 months of imprisonment.

Kvanc Agaoglu was detained in the courtroom.

Earlier, the Military Court had sentenced Kvanc Agaoglu to only 4 years in prison and had released him from the courtroom.

After Sevak’s parents’ appeals, the case was transferred to the Civil Court, which launched a new examination.

On the morning of April 24, 2011, Sevak was murdered by his fellow serviceman Kvanc Agaoglu. In relation to the murder, the gendarmerie had declared that Agagolu had accidentally fired the shot while joking with Balikci. However, Sevak’s parents claim that their son was killed because he was Armenian.