Arif Ozdemir, a 30-year-old suspect in the killing of eight people in Turkey's Afyonkarahisar province, explained his actions during interrogation as stemming from a dispute over a debt. However, according to him, five of the victims were random passersby.
On November 5, the man carried out a mass killing in the city of Afyonkarahisar. The same day, police arrested him in Eskisehir province.
During interrogation, Ozdemir said that in 2025 he bought a combine harvester from Ahmet Uzel for 40,000 euros. He began working with the equipment, but in Izmir province the harvester suddenly caught fire and burned completely.
According to Ozdemir, last week Uzel demanded payment of the remaining 11,000 euros of the debt, while he believed he owed only 4,000 euros. After arguing by phone, Uzel came with two acquaintances to meet him in the village of Ayazin. There, Ozdemir killed the three with a hunting rifle.
The suspect claims he killed the other five people when they tried to steal their cars.
A peculiarity of this case is that the explanation presented by the suspect combines two different circumstances: the dispute over the debt and the attempted car theft. According to his claim, the killing of three of the eight victims was linked to a financial disagreement, while in the case of the other five he cited a different reason.
These explanations must still be treated as the suspect's testimony rather than established circumstances. It is especially important to establish what happened in the village of Ayazin, how subsequent events unfolded, and whether the investigation will confirm the version he presented. Until then, all that is known is that the suspect was arrested on the day of the incident.
