International Shia News Agency

Murder of Serbian basketball fan solved, İstanbul police chief says

SHAFAQNA- Ivkovic, a 25-year-old Red Star Belgrade fan, was fatally stabbed in İstanbul ahead of the team’s Euroleague basketball match with Galatasaray Liv Hospital on Nov. 21.

Altınok said that İstanbul police examined video footage from 82 surveillance cameras and consequently apprehended Ivkovic’s killer and the killer’s accomplices. “There is no ambiguity about the person who killed the Serbian citizen,” Altınok revealed, and confirmed that the suspect is a Turkish national.

Altınok congratulated those who carried out the operation and detained those involved in the incident within a week, adding that the suspects detained earlier in the week had been referred to court.

Turkey conveys condolences in Serbian

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanju Bilgiç expressed deep sorrow for the death of the Serbian basketball fan and also extended Turkey’s condolences in Serbian.

“We hope such a case will not happen again and that the perpetrators will immediately be caught and punished,” said Bilgiç while addressing a weekly press conference on Thursday.

He said he didn’t expect Turkey’s relations with Serbia to be adversely affected by the death, since the two countries have strong ties.

The murder was initially met with “outrage” by the Serbian government. Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic voiced his anger over “the monstrous murder,” in a government statement published on Nov. 22. The statement read in part, “Serbia demands that the perpetrator be urgently found, arrested and most severely punished.”

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu had called Prime Minister Vucic to express his regret over the killing of the Serbian fan and pledged that the Turkish authorities would do everything in their power to find the culprit.

Minister of Youth and Sports Akif Çağatay Kılıç also called his Serbian counterpart, Vanja Udovicic, to convey his condolences.

Source: Todayszaman

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