Why has an expert review been ordered into Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu, and what exactly is the prosecutor examining?

16 September 2026 — The Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has taken a new step in the investigation into the death of Kaşif Kozinoğlu: it ordered specific episodes of Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu to be examined by a panel of experts in the field. The story was filed by Demirören News Agency (DHA); Habertürk published it at 12:46 under the headline "Review into the series 'Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu'" and updated it at 13:15, and Yeni Asır carried it the same day under a "FETÖ review launched" headline. According to Habertürk, the panel will look at three matters: the character "Kazım Kaşifoğlu" being shown as a "traitor" and then killed; the letter group "FG" on vehicle licence plates in some scenes; and whether certain episodes contain propaganda for the FETÖ/PDY armed terrorist organisation, coded messages, organisational instructions or steering content. Yeni Asır wrote that the report will examine the plot constructions, dialogue and "subliminal messages" in detail. At this stage it is a review order; there is no finding by the prosecutor and no court decision.

Where does the investigation come from?

Kozinoğlu was MİT's former Asia regional adviser; he died in November 2011 while held in Silivri Prison. Sources give the date differently: 12 November (the official record reported by TRT Haber) and 13 November (Wikipedia); this file notes both and picks neither. The case was reopened 15 years later after a Ministry of Justice review; September 2026 brought detentions, arrests and the opening of the grave, all detailed in this site's earlier case file on the Kozinoğlu investigation and the screenwriters' testimony. Prosecutors added to the file the parallels between Kozinoğlu's last days in prison and the episodes broadcast at the time; on 14 September screenwriters Raci Şaşmaz, Bahadır Özdener and Cüneyt Aysan were heard as witnesses at Silivri Courthouse for roughly two hours. The expert-panel order came two days after those statements.

Which scenes are under scrutiny?

According to Takvim on 14 September and Vakit61 the same day, the episodes at the centre of the investigation are these: in episode 136, aired on 10 November 2011, a character named "Kazım Kaşifoğlu" is held in a cell, threatened and beaten by a character called Yaşar Ağa, while another character says "Kaşifoğlu! I am your angel of death… I will kill you." Kozinoğlu died two days after that episode. In episode 139, aired on 8 December 2011, the character is killed while exercising by air being injected into his arm. Yeni Asır and Takvim also wrote that a gravestone bearing the name "ERDOĞAN" appears in episode 159 of 17 May 2012. Takvim further reported a vehicle with the plate "34 FG 7061" in episode 79 and interpreted the letters as the initials of Fetullah Gülen and the digits read backwards (1607) as pointing to 16 July; that reading is the newspaper's interpretation, not a prosecutor's statement or an expert finding. Habertürk's report names no episode numbers and no actors.

What does the production side say?

According to Yeni Asır, producer and screenwriter Raci Şaşmaz rejected any alleged link to FETÖ, saying the series is entirely fictional drama, that its characters are built from imaginary elements and that the writers had no foreknowledge of any real death. No corporate statement from Pana Film appears in the sources at the time of writing. Takvim recalled the assessment of Sabah's Ankara bureau chief Okan Müderrisoğlu ("this cannot be that much of a coincidence") and an old remark by director Osman Sınav that his reason for leaving the series was "a secret he would take to the grave"; both are commentary. Lead actor Necati Şaşmaz (Polat Alemdar) is not named in the investigation coverage; he is mentioned here only as part of the series' identity.

What was Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu, and when did it air?

According to Wikipedia, the Pana Film production premiered on Show TV on 19 April 2007; it ran on Show TV for three seasons, moved to Star TV for season 4, atv for season 5, TNT for season 6, back to atv for seasons 7–8 and Kanal D for seasons 9–10, ending with episode 300 on 16 June 2016. It is the continuation of Kurtlar Vadisi (2003–2005) and the two-episode Kurtlar Vadisi Terör (2007); this site keeps the three productions on separate pages because episodes 79, 136, 139 and 159 in the investigation belong to Pusu. Raci Şaşmaz, Bahadır Özdener and Cüneyt Aysan wrote the scripts between 2007 and 2013, and the franchise has been debated since 2003 for dramatising current politics and intelligence affairs under fictional names.

What does an expert review mean legally?

An expert (bilirkişi) is a specialist whose opinion a prosecutor or court seeks on a matter requiring technical knowledge; the panel's report is one part of the evidence assessment, not a determination of guilt on its own. The reports give no date for when it will be completed. The screenwriters were heard as witnesses, not suspects, and the sources mention no lawsuit against the series or the production company. For that reason this file relays "FETÖ/PDY propaganda" only as the subject of the prosecutor's review; it should not be read as a conclusion.

Known and unknown

Known as of 16 September 2026: the Silivri prosecutor appointed an expert panel (DHA/Habertürk, Yeni Asır); the subjects are the Kaşifoğlu character, the "FG" plates and the content of certain episodes; the dates and scenes of episodes 136, 139 and 159 (Takvim, Vakit61, Yeni Asır); the screenwriters' statements of 14 September; Raci Şaşmaz's fiction statement. Unknown: the full list of episodes handed to the panel, the report's timeline, the panel's fields of expertise, Pana Film's corporate position, the Forensic Medicine Institute's report on the cause of death and the scope of any indictment. The reading of the plate "34 FG 7061" is a newspaper interpretation.

What happens next?

The next thresholds are the expert report, the forensic report and the prosecutor's decision at the end of the investigation. If the report contains a finding about the series' content, its legal consequence will depend on the prosecutor's assessment; if it does not, the series dimension may drop out of the file. This entry will be updated at the next official step; the earlier stages of the Kozinoğlu investigation (exhumation, arrests, screenwriters' statements) are in the related case file, and the cast and episode list are on the Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu page.