Cemal Temizöz (born 4 September 1958) is a Turkish retired colonel. He was tried at the

Şırnak death well trials Şırnak () is a city in Şırnak District and the capital of Şırnak Province in Turkey. The Ibrahim Khalil border crossing with Iraq is one of the main links of Turkey to the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. The city is mainly populated by Kurds of ...

and the Sledgehammer trials, which he received an amnesty for both.

Life

Temizöz graduated from the

Turkish Military Academy The Turkish Military Academy () or as it is known historically and popularly Harbiye is a four-year co-educational military academy and part of the National Defense University (Turkey), National Defence University. It is located in the cent ...

in 1979. He served in

Cizre Cizre () is a city in the Cizre District of Şırnak Province in Turkey. It is located on the river Tigris by the Syria–Turkey border and close to the Iraq–Turkey border. Cizre is in the historical region of Upper Mesopotamia and the cultura ...

between 1993-1995 and carried out successful operations on erasing PKK from Cizre. After his duty in Cizre, he commanded Aydın First Gendarmerie Education Battalion. Later, he rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and commanded Tekirdağ Provincial Gendarmerie Command. After that, he rose to the rank of colonel and commanded Denizli Provincial Gendarmerie Command. In January 2006, he was assigned for the investigation to be held in Haydarpaşa GATA. During the investigation, he found out patient information of relatives of Land Forces Commander

Yaşar Büyükanıt General Mehmet Yaşar Büyükanıt (1 September 1940 – 21 November 2019) was the 25th Chief of the Turkish General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, from 28 August 2006 to 28 August 2008. Biography General Yaşar Büyükanıt was born in Is ...

was revealed by a

Gülen movement The Gülen movement () or Hizmet movement () is an Islamist fraternal movement. It is a sub-sect of Sunni Islam based on a Nursian theological perspective as reflected in Fethullah Gülen's religious teachings. It is referred to by its membe ...

member. Later, he commanded Kayseri Provincial General Command. While in Kayseri, he detected 3

non-commissioned officer A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted rank, enlisted leader, petty officer, or in some cases warrant officer, who does not hold a Commission (document), commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority b ...

s are working for the Gülen Movement. Their activities included giving out some documents to the movement and loading forged documents to the unit commander's computer. Temizöz retired in 2010.

Şırnak death well trials

Temizöz was detained on 23 March 2009 for the "perpetrator unknown" murders after testimonies of two secret witnesses, "Tükenmez Kalem" (real name: Fırat Altın) and "Sokak Lambası" (real name: Hıdır Altuğ), and an open witness, Mehmet Nuri Binzet (who was 13 years old at the time of alleged murders). All three later withdrew their testimonies, with Binzet saying that he hated his family for making him a village guard and Colonel Cemal Temizöz for giving consent" and that he heard many incidents from different people and threw them on Kamil Atağ and his son as well as Cemal Temizöz. After excavations in Cizre, 13 pieces of bones were found. After tests done in forensic medicine, it turned out that all these were animal bones. Temizöz was released on 12 September 2014 and received an amnesty for the death well case on 5 November 2015.

Sledgehammer trials

Temizöz gave a testimony as a suspect of Sledgehammer trials on 7 June 2010. He was accused of the "CD number 10". He argued he was targeted by the Gülen movement and PKK for his past activities and that Gülen movement laid a plot against him. He also argued that the trial was meant for revenge and political reckoning. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison on 21 September 2012, but received an amnesty for the Sledgehammer case on 31 March 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Temizöz, Cemal Turkish colonels 1958 births Living people