14.04.2026 16:54
Ebru Cansu, the Tunceli Republic Chief Public Prosecutor who conducted the Gülistan Doku operation, kept the promise she made on the day she took office. Stating, 'Before being a chief public prosecutor, I am a mother of a daughter,' Cansu broke the 6-year silence with a simultaneous operation carried out in 7 provinces.
Turkey is discussing the operation targeting the so-called "untouchable" names in the Gülistan Doku case, which had remained in the dark for 6 years. The name that turned Justice Minister Akın Gürlek's instruction of "Wherever the end leads" into an operation was Ebru Cansu, the second female Chief Public Prosecutor of Tunceli.
"JUSTICE WITH A MOTHER'S CONSCIENCE" Chief Prosecutor Cansu, who met with Gülistan Doku's family in her early days of assignment to Tunceli, uttered those historic words: "Before being a chief prosecutor, I am a mother of a daughter."
"I will find out what happened to Gülistan." These words did not remain merely a promise; they transformed into a concrete justice move through re-examination of 700 hours of footage, pursuit of deleted digital traces, and listening to secret witnesses.
Chief Public Prosecutor Ebru Cansu THE CASE REACTIVATED AFTER YEARS Ebru Cansu, appointed as Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor in 2024 by the decision of the Council of Judges and Prosecutors and among the three female prosecutors serving in Turkey, took up the case again. A special team was established upon the instruction of the Chief Prosecutor, who decided to conduct the investigation from the very beginning.
In this context, the License Plate Recognition System (PTS) and City Security Management System (KGYS) data from across the province before and on the day of Gülistan Doku's disappearance were collected and examined.
13 PEOPLE DETAINED In the investigation, a simultaneous operation was conducted in 7 provinces during the night hours for the capture of 13 suspects on murder suspicion. In the operation, 13 people, including Doku's boyfriend Zeinal Abakarov and Mustafa Türkay Sonel, the son of the then Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, were detained.
THANKS FROM GÜLİSTAN'S SISTER TO THE PROSECUTOR While the investigation regarding Gülistan Doku, who has been missing since January 5, 2020, in Tunceli, continues; Gülistan's sister Aygül Doku and her family came to the Tunceli Courthouse to follow the latest developments. Making statements here, Aygül Doku said, "Our Chief Prosecutor Ebru Cansu is making history. We do not want this to be covered up. We have been seeking justice for 7 years. If you had not made Gülistan's voice heard, if women had not said 'Where is Gülistan Doku', if Chief Prosecutor Ebru Cansu had not been there, it would have remained as 'Gülistan committed suicide'. This is a shame."