Economist Korhan Berzeg will be buried next to his father, who shared a similar fate.

The date and location of the burial of Economist Korhan Berzeg, who went missing after leaving his rural home in Armutlu neighborhood of Gönen district in Balıkesir and whose bone fragments were found approximately 1 year later, have been determined.



All the evidence found so far belonging to Economist Korhan Berzeg has been examined by Istanbul Forensic Medicine, but the exact cause of death could not be determined. Therefore, preparations have been made for the burial of Korhan Berzeg.



The body of the famous economist Berzeg will be buried in Gönen. After the funeral prayer to be performed at Armutlu Neighborhood Mosque on Monday, May 27th, following the noon prayer, Korhan Berzeg will be buried next to his father in the family cemetery.



The information in the report from Forensic Medicine states that "Considering the possible tissue losses due to animal intervention, weight and density loss, and the absence of soft tissues in the existing bones without knowing the characteristics of the crime scene, it can be assumed that they belong to a person who died within a time frame of 3-12 months as of the date they were found. Therefore, the current postmortem findings are consistent with the disappearance story on 17/06/2023, but due to the fact that morphological changes in bones can vary depending on burial method, animal intervention, and environmental conditions, the exact time of death could not be determined. In the macroscopic examination conducted, it was determined that all tissue losses and bone defects in the existing long bones could be caused by animal intervention. Considering the images of the crime scene, blunt traumatic fractures in skull fragments with occasional bone tissue defects could be the result of falling from a height, but due to the absence of bone tissue and soft tissues, the exact cause of death of the person could not be determined."



Meanwhile, it was revealed that Korhan Berzeg shared a similar fate with his father. It was stated that Muhsin Berzeg, Korhan Berzeg's father who served as a pharmacist captain in Iğdır, extended his duty for 1 more day to host a dinner in honor of his son's birth to his friends on the day his transfer to Istanbul was announced. It was learned that Muhsin Berzeg was found dead in his bed the next day, who was going to go to his unit in Istanbul. It was stated that Muhsin Berzeg, who was buried in Iğdır, was brought to Armutlu neighborhood in Gönen district by his relatives and buried there because his grave was crossed by a road. Just like his father who died 84 years ago, Korhan Berzeg, whose body integrity was not preserved, will only be able to be buried with his bones.



What happened?

A search operation was initiated by the Provincial Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate for economist Korhan Berzeg (83), who went missing on June 17, 2023, after leaving his home in Armutlu neighborhood of Gönen district in Balıkesir to go for a morning walk with his dog "Tina". Teams searched for Berzeg and his dog in Armutlu and the surrounding forested areas, as well as in nearby neighborhoods, water wells, riverbeds, and caves for days, but no trace was found.



It was determined that the dog noticed by a citizen on August 29 between Geyikli and Armutlu neighborhoods was "Tina" and it was identified by the Berzeg family. It was determined that the dog was healthy and well cared for. Despite releasing the dog with a global positioning system (GPS) device, no results were obtained. On April 23, bone and clothing fragments, as well as identification and bank cards, were found by the residents of Armutlu, about 3.5 kilometers away, and examined by the teams.



Korhan Berzeg's wife Angela and daughter Nisa Berzeg came to Gönen and provided DNA samples, which were sent to Istanbul for laboratory analysis. In the study conducted at Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institution, it was determined that the DNA obtained from bone fragments matched with the DNA taken from Nisa Berzeg. The search operation was concluded on April 30.