Background
Ömer Lütfü Topal, born in Doğanşehir in 1942, was a businessman known in the 1990s as the 'King of Casinos'. He reportedly ran casinos in Turkey and several other places, including Northern Cyprus. Some sources mention earlier smuggling convictions.
The years of his killing coincided with the period of the Susurluk affair, when links between the state and organised crime were being debated.
What happened
On the night of 28 July 1996, as Topal was driving home to Yeniköy in Istanbul, his car was fired on with automatic weapons and he died. The attackers left their weapons at the scene and fled. According to reports, a fingerprint on a magazine was later matched to a wanted man who lived under a false identity.
After the Susurluk crash in November of that year, the identity behind that fingerprint became a matter of public discussion.
Investigation and legal process
Three police officers were named during the investigation and detained in October 1996, but the file soon stalled. In the Susurluk inquiries there were allegations linking some figures in the police special operations structure to the killing, along with claims that evidence was concealed.
After confessions by former special operations officer Ayhan Çarkın and the arrest of seven former special operations police, the investigation widened and the Topal case was included. One claim holds that he was killed because money he paid to have his name removed from a list of Kurdish businessmen never reached its intended recipients; this is not a finding established by a court.
Where it stands today
The case is cited as one of the key links among the unsolved killings of the 1990s and the Susurluk scandal. The question of legal responsibility remains open, and not every detail of who planned and carried out the killing has been settled in court. The matter is best approached through documents rather than speculation.