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Turkish authorities detained five suspects in connection with the armed attack on the Fenerbahce football team's bus in Trabzon 11 years ago, Justice Minister Akin Gurlek announced Tuesday.
In a post on X, Gurlek explained that investigators reassessed the evidence using new technological capabilities and updated investigative methods, leading the Trabzon Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to conduct raids at the suspects' addresses.
Officers searched the suspects' addresses, seized materials, and began the necessary judicial procedures, the minister added.
"The sole purpose of this investigation is to establish with concrete evidence the person or people behind this heinous attack carried out 11 years ago," Gurlek said.
On April 4, 2015, the team bus came under fire near Surmene in Trabzon province as it traveled from Rize toward Trabzon Airport.
The team was returning from a Turkish Super Lig match against Caykur Rizespor, which the Istanbul side won 5-1 as it continued its championship chase against archrival Galatasaray.
Gunfire struck the bus as it crossed a viaduct, hitting the driver in the face and causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
The driver managed to keep the bus from veering further out of control, while Fenerbahce's security chief, who was sitting beside him, stepped in and applied the brakes, preventing the bus from going over the edge of the viaduct.
The driver was hospitalized after the shooting, while no players were injured. The incident left the team shaken and put everyone aboard in danger, as the bus could have gone over the edge if the driver and security chief had failed to regain control.
Right after the attack, Fenerbahce called for the Turkish league to be suspended, describing the shooting as an "assassination attempt" and saying it would not play until the incident was cleared up.
The Turkish Football Federation (TFF) subsequently suspended all top-flight league and cup matches for one week following the attack, describing the incident as a terrorist attack.
By April 9, suspects had appeared before a court after prosecutors sought their arrest, but the court released them under judicial control, ruling that there was insufficient and convincing evidence to justify their detention.
The investigation ultimately ended with a non-prosecution decision more than five years after the attack.
Fenerbahce players and club officials later filed individual applications with Türkiye's Constitutional Court, arguing that authorities had failed to conduct an effective investigation and alleging a violation of their right to life.
The Justice Ministry reopened the case in May 2026 through its Department for Investigating Unsolved Crimes, after a legal ruling overturned the previous decision not to prosecute and allowed investigators to take another look at the case.
"The armed attack carried out in Trabzon on April 4, 2015, against the bus carrying the Fenerbahce Sports Club football team remains in our memories," Gurlek wrote. "The attack, in which the bus driver was seriously injured and the footballers and club officials faced great danger, has remained a wound in the conscience of our nation."
He added that the investigation would continue regardless of which team, player or supporters' group an act of violence targets.
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