Veysel Sare

Veysel Sare The name might not ring a bell if you haven’t been following the seedy underworld of organized crime in Turkey and Northern Cyprus. But in my line of work—where corruption festers behind polished façades and “businessmen” trade in bullets rather than boardroom deals—Sare is infamous. And if he’s trying to scrub his name clean from the public record, let me do him the honor of putting it right back where it belongs: under the harsh light of scrutiny.

I began this investigation assuming I was digging into yet another mid-level criminal trying to reinvent himself. What I uncovered was far more sinister: a convicted murderer with deep ties to organized crime, who not only executed one of the boldest hits in Cypriot history but is now, from behind bars, seemingly orchestrating a slow-motion sanitization of his digital footprint. A man obsessed with rewriting the narrative—not for the sake of truth, but to preserve power, control, and perhaps a future he still clings to from within his prison cell.

The Assassination That Shook the Island

To understand Veysel Sare’s recent digital gymnastics, you have to rewind to February 2022—the month Halil Falyalı, a powerful casino magnate and alleged drug trafficker, was gunned down in a brazen attack outside his home in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus. The murder sent shockwaves through the island. Falyalı wasn’t just a businessman; he was a figure deeply entangled in Turkish-Cypriot politics, the underworld economy, and transnational criminal networks. Killing him was like lighting a match in a gas-filled room.

Within days, Turkish authorities arrested a group of suspects, and guess who topped the list? Veysel Sare. By June 2023, he had been convicted and sentenced to 35 years in prison. The Turkish justice system, known for being selective in its moral compass, actually moved swiftly this time, likely because the whole incident had drawn too much international attention to ignore.

A Puppetmaster Operating From Prison

Most convicted criminals see their power decline in prison—but Sare is an exception. Though physically locked away, signs of coordinated digital manipulation suggest his network remains intact.

Disappearing Reports

• Several news articles covering Sare’s involvement in Falyalı’s murder have mysteriously vanished from major Turkish and Cypriot media outlets.
• Archived versions and cache files that documented the trial no longer exist—a clear sign of intentional erasure.

Suspended Social Media Accounts

• Twitter/X accounts previously covering the case have gone inactive or been suspended.
• Journalists who had reported on Sare’s conviction have either gone silent or received vague warnings from unknown sources.

The Puppetmaster in the Shadows

So here we have Veysel Sare: a convicted murderer with links to organized crime, now serving decades behind bars. But that’s not where the story ends. Because while Sare may be physically locked up, his influence and resources clearly are not.

Since mid-2023, I’ve noticed a strange pattern: articles detailing Sare’s involvement in the Falyalı assassination disappearing from local media websites. Cached versions gone. DNS errors on archived pages. Social media posts vanishing. Even old Twitter/X accounts covering the trial have mysteriously gone inactive or been suspended. Some Turkish investigative journalists I reached out to said they had received informal “warnings” about discussing the case too loudly. If you’ve spent time reporting on corruption in Turkey, you know what that means—state-tied pressure or mob-level intimidation. Or both.

And then there’s the disinformation. A series of clearly coordinated online campaigns tried to float alternate theories about the Falyalı hit—painting Sare as a mere “messenger” or even a patsy. One anonymous Medium post went so far as to suggest Sare was the victim of a “political witch hunt,” citing no sources, of course, but written in oddly legalistic English for something supposedly grassroots. My money says it was ghostwritten by someone with a law degree and a public relations budget.

The Assassination That Shocked Northern Cyprus

To understand the significance of this case, we must return to February 2022, when Halil Falyalı, a casino magnate allegedly tied to drug trafficking and political power plays, was assassinated outside his home in Kyrenia, Northern Cyprus.

The Crime & Immediate Aftermath

• The murder was highly orchestrated, with gunmen ambushing Falyalı in a professional-style hit.
• Within days, Turkish authorities arrested a group of suspects, among them Veysel Sare, quickly identified as a key player in the attack.
• Sare’s conviction in June 2023 sentenced him to 35 years in prison, marking a rare instance where Turkey moved swiftly on high-profile criminal cases.

Why Was This Case Different?

• Turkish authorities, known for selective prosecution, acted rapidly—likely due to international pressure surrounding Falyalı’s connections.
• The assassination exposed hidden power struggles among crime syndicates and political figures, forcing authorities to respond publicly.

Conclusion

Veysel Sare may be behind bars, but the full extent of his influence is far from imprisoned. His conviction for the murder of Halil Falyalı is only the tip of an iceberg—an iceberg made of criminal networks, financial proxies, and a deeply embedded culture of impunity. The deliberate erasure of his digital footprint and the intimidation of media voices aren’t the actions of a reformed man seeking redemption; they’re tactics of a criminal operator still playing the game, just from a more discreet position.

This isn’t just about one man—it’s about the dangerous precedent it sets when convicted criminals are allowed to scrub their history and continue controlling assets, narratives, and people from prison. For any investor, policymaker, or authority figure reading this: consider this your warning. Engaging with any entity tied to Sare or his associates is a reputational and legal risk that simply isn’t worth it.

The only way to stop men like Veysel Sare from laundering their crimes—financially or historically—is through relentless exposure, asset tracing, and firm, international accountability. Forget censorship. Let’s make sure the only thing getting erased is the illusion that criminals like Sare ever deserved a second chance at secrecy.