15.07.2026 00:20
All resources of the state have been mobilized to find the lifeless body of Gülistan Doku, who disappeared 5 years ago in Tunceli and was confirmed to have been murdered. A 30-member special JAK and JASAT team, established by order of the Ministries of Justice and Interior, is meticulously searching suspicious areas indicated by narrowed base station records, like looking for a needle in a haystack. Infrared scans using cutting-edge underground imaging devices are ongoing nonstop across a vast 100-kilometer stretch.
The search for university student Gülistan Doku (21), who has been missing in Tunceli since January 5, 2020, and whose death by murder was confirmed by the latest investigation, has entered a new phase. A special team established under the instruction of the Ministries of Justice and Interior is meticulously scanning a 100-kilometer area using ground-penetrating imaging devices to find the young woman's lifeless body.
30-MEMBER SPECIAL TEAM ESTABLISHED BY MINISTRY ORDER
In order to reach Gülistan Doku's lifeless body, an extraordinary search team was formed within the Tunceli Provincial Gendarmerie Command upon the request of the Ministry of Justice and the instruction of the Ministry of Interior. The 30-member special team, consisting of Gendarmerie Search and Rescue (JAK) and JASAT detectives, deployed to the field with the direct participation and coordination of Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor Ebru Cansu.
3D UNDERGROUND SCANNING WITH INFRARED SIGNALS
The direction of the search efforts was determined based on narrowed base station records obtained from the suspects' historical phone traffic and suspicious coordinates. At the identified points, advanced technology ground-penetrating radar (GPR) devices that scan the subsurface with infrared signals are being used.
Thanks to the special signals emitted by the devices, a three-dimensional map of the underground is being created. In this way, suspicious voids beneath the soil, changes in soil structure due to burial, and all potential findings are analyzed second by second by expert teams.
INTENSE WORK ON A 100-KILOMETER AREA
The searches have been intensified along a vast approximately 100-kilometer stretch covering riverbeds, rural lands, and caves that encompass the suspects' contact points. Despite these meticulous efforts mobilizing all technological means, no trace of Gülistan Doku has been found yet. It was reported that the special team will continue its search activities in the region uninterruptedly and with determination.
WHAT HAD HAPPENED?
The Gülistan Doku case, reopened upon the instruction of Ebru Cansu, appointed as the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor, was reclassified from a missing person case to a "premeditated murder" investigation in light of concrete evidence obtained.
In operations conducted within the scope of the investigation, 11 suspects, including the then-Governor of Tunceli Tuncay Sonel, his son Mustafa Türkay Sonel accused of murder, the then-Chief Physician of the State Hospital Çağdaş Özdemir, and Gülistan's ex-boyfriend Zeinal Abarakov, were arrested and sent to prison.