Background
Cengiz Altun was born in 1968 in Gercüş, in Batman province. He enrolled at Batman Vocational School in 1990 and in 1991, while still a student, began distributing the weekly newspaper Yeni Ülke; he went on to become its Batman correspondent.
According to his relatives and press organisations, Altun had been threatened before his death. Reports say he complained several times to the authorities in Batman, most recently in November 1991, without result. In an issue published in early February 1992 he had written about unsolved killings and allegations of counter-guerrilla activity in the region.
What happened
On the morning of 24 February 1992, Altun was shot in Batman while on his way to the newspaper's office, and he died. Sources give his age as either 23 or 24. His brother later said Altun was carrying a weapon but did not fire it, and died while being taken to hospital.
The attackers walked away from the scene unhurriedly. Batman at the time saw many similar killings, and local prosecutors were reportedly unable to carry investigations forward.
Investigation and legal proceedings
In 1993 police arrested a man named İsmail Emsen, said to be in possession of the gun used against Altun. Emsen told investigators his brother Metin had given him the weapon. Emsen was tried only for carrying an unlicensed firearm and was released, and there is no record of a serious search for Metin Emsen. Press accounts have linked Emsen to Hizbullah supporters.
No one has been convicted of Altun's killing, and the family's compensation claim at the administrative court was rejected.
Press and professional organisations have often said that many similar killings took place in Batman in this period and that most were never solved. Altun's file is treated as part of that wider picture; his brother and colleagues pointed out that police never looked for the gun owner's brother.
Where it stands today
The case is among the files on journalists killed in south-east Turkey in the 1990s. Colleagues and relatives gather at his grave on the anniversary each year. Various claims about who was responsible have been made, but none has been established in court, and the perpetrators remain officially unidentified.