[citation needed] The event, which began with the November 1996 car crash which killed Çatlı and other prominent individuals, resulted in Şahin's arrest and subsequent acquittal.
In 1978, he fulfilled his military duties in Erzurum and the Isparta Commando School and four years later, in 1982, joined the police force of yet another provincial capital, Bitlis, in Eastern Anatolia.
[3] The fatal car crash, which occurred on 3 November 1996 in the small northwestern town of Susurluk, exposed links between politics, organized crime and the bureaucracy, referred to in Turkish as the derin devlet [deep state].
[4] Tansu Çiller, Turkey's first female prime minister, who served from June 1993 to March 1996, requested Şahin's return to the police force and said that he was owed an apology.
However, on 27 January 1997 a warrant was issued for his arrest and although he initially eluded capture, on 6 March he was charged with 5–9 years in jail for felony and surrendered within five days later, ultimately being acquitted six months later, on 12 September.
[3] The Turkish police said the round-up was triggered by orders Şahin gave to assassinate twelve Armenian community leaders in the provincial capital of Sivas Province.