Life times two

The Istanbul 36th High Criminal Court has sentenced Turkish mobster Mustafa S?ylemez to two life sentences for the 2022 murder of casino kingpin Halil Falyal? in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC).

Journalist and filmmaker Veysi Dündar took to X Saturday to share the court’s verdict:

S?ylemez is a member of the S?ylemez Karde?ler organized crime organization and one of seven defendants prosecutors accused of murdering Fayali and his driver, Murat Demirta?. ?

The Istanbul court also sentenced Abdurrahim ?elik, Cengiz ?ener, and Ender Y?ld?z each to 25 years in prison for the charges of “assisting” premeditated murder and “membership in a criminal organization.”

Mustafa S?ylemez’s double life sentence included the charge of “forming and leading a criminal organization.” The court, however, acquitted his brother Mehmet Faysal S?ylemez, also an alleged gangster, of all crimes and released him from custody.

Death of notorious kingpin

According to Haber Turk, Mustafa S?ylemez was one of the defendants attending the hearing remotely from prison.

Falyal? and his driver died in a hail of automatic gunfire

S?ylemez was one of the men with Kalashnikovs that ambushed the motorcade transporting the casino mogul Falyal? as it passed through the TRNC village of ?atalk?y in February 2022. Both Falyal? and his driver died in a hail of automatic gunfire witnessed by Falyal?’s wife and children, who were in a different vehicle and escaped without injury.

Besides owning the five-star Les Ambassadeurs Hotel & Casino in the TRNC, Falyal? was also a leading figure in the region’s online gambling industry.

US authorities had Falyal? under investigation since 2015 for money laundering and involvement in a drug trafficking ring that flooded the United Kingdom with heroin, while also accusing him of masterminding an illegal ￡40m ($50.8m) betting scheme.

In 2016, despite the Department of Justice charging Falyal? with laundering money from narcotics sales within the US, neither government could bring him to justice because the UK and US had no extradition treaty with the TRNC.

Links to government

While the Istanbul court did not establish the motive behind Falyal?’s murder, prior to his slaying convicted Turkish mafia boss Sedat Peker named him as the bookkeeper for an international cocaine trafficking ring with links to leading Turkish politicians.

In 2004, Turkey issued a warrant for the arrests of Mustafa S?ylemez and his brother, who fled to Iraq and later Azerbaijan. The pair returned to Turkey shortly before Falyal?’s murder.