16.07.2026 13:50
The Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office requested the collection of GPS data, camera recordings, and personnel information of all armored vehicles on duty on the day of the incident, within the scope of the murder case of Gülistan Doku, who went missing in Tunceli on January 5, 2020. In the investigation, many people, including the then-governor Tuncay Sonel and his son Mustafa Türkay Sonel, were arrested, while efforts to find the body continue.
The Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, within the scope of the investigation into the disappearance of Gülistan Doku in Tunceli on January 5, 2020, requested the collection of comprehensive information and documents regarding all armored vehicles that were on duty in the Tunceli city center on the day of the incident. The Chief Prosecutor's Office requested from the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office that numerous records and documents, from the duty orders of the vehicles to their GPS data, from camera recordings to the identity information of personnel serving in the vehicles, be submitted to the case file.
ARMORED VEHICLES TO BE SCRUTINIZED In the letter sent by the Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, a request for information and documents was made for the purpose of completing the investigation conducted within the scope of allegations regarding the disappearance of Gülistan Doku on January 5, 2020, and that this process resulted in murder.
In the letter, it was requested that an investigation be conducted considering the possibility that armored vehicles belonging to police and gendarmerie units within the Tunceli Governorship may have been involved in the incident subject to the investigation. In this context, it was requested that all armored vehicles that were on duty in the Tunceli city center on January 5, 2020, be identified and sent to the Chief Prosecutor's Office as a list.
The Chief Prosecutor's Office requested the determination of the official and civilian license plates, colors, and other distinguishing features of the vehicles to be identified, as well as the identification of the open identity and personnel records of the driver, vehicle commander, gunner, and other personnel serving in these vehicles. Additionally, it was requested that duty orders belonging to armored vehicles that were assigned or had passage rights at or near the crime scene on the day of the incident, as well as entry-exit and guard post records, be submitted to the case file.
The letter also requested the submission of GPS, Vehicle Tracking System (ATS), and Product Tracking System (ÜTS) data of the armored vehicles, along with coordinate, speed, and route records between 00:00 and 23:59 on January 5, 2020, as well as the transmission of interior and exterior camera recordings and images from DVR devices in their raw form, if available, via digital media. Additionally, it was requested that certified copies of the relevant date pages from the vehicles' logbooks and mileage records be sent; that PTS, KGYS, K Point, and Mobese records be examined to identify vehicles exhibiting suspicious movement, especially on the route where Gülistan Doku disappeared, and that route analyses be conducted. The letter also requested that official and protective vehicles used within the Tunceli Governorship be identified and investigated to determine if they moved in coordination with the armored vehicles.
It was learned that the Gülistan Doku investigation, conducted in coordination between the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office and the Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, is being carried out comprehensively and meticulously. It was stated that all evidence and findings obtained to date within the scope of the investigation are being evaluated in detail, and new information and allegations are being examined with sensitivity.
1 DETAINED IN THE USA, 17 IN TURKEY The investigation into Gülistan Doku, who has been missing in Tunceli since January 5, 2020, was revisited upon the instruction of Ebru Cansu, who was appointed to the position of Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor by the HSK June 2024 decree. A special team formed from JASAT examined approximately 700 hours of KGYS and security camera footage as well as PTS records, and new images were added to the case file. Based on the evidence obtained, the investigation was converted into a murder case. In operations conducted, 17 suspects were taken into custody. The other suspect, Umut Altaş, who is in the USA and for whom a red notice was issued, was detained and arrested in that country.
FROM THE GOVERNOR'S SON TO THE CHIEF PHYSICIAN AND CLOSE BODYGUARD Among the suspects referred to the courthouse after their procedures at the gendarmerie, the son of the then-Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, Mustafa Türkay Sonel, and Erdoğan Elaldı, who was determined to have had the last contact with Gülistan Doku through narrowed cell site analysis and was a former Special Provincial Administration employee, were arrested on charges of 'Intentional killing'. Gülistan Doku's ex-boyfriend Zeinal Abarakov, Abarakov's father Engin Yücer and mother Cemile Yücer, fugitive suspect Umut Altaş's father Celal Altaş and mother Nurşen Arıkan, dismissed police officer Gökhan Ertok, and Şükrü Eroğlu, who was Tuncay Sonel's close bodyguard at the time, were arrested on charges of 'Concealing and destroying crime evidence'. Ferhat Güven, due to his actions against Gülistan Doku's sister Aygül Doku, was arrested on charges of 'Robbery' and sent to prison.
Çağdaş Özdemir, the then-chief physician of Tunceli State Hospital, who was detained in Bursa on allegations of deleting Gülistan Doku's hospital records and brought to the Tunceli Courthouse, was also arrested on charges of 'Falsifying, destroying, or concealing official documents'. Governor Tuncay Sonel was arrested and imprisoned on charges of 'Destroying, concealing, or altering crime evidence', 'Blocking, damaging, destroying, or altering data in the information system, unlawfully providing or seizing personal data', and 'Falsifying, destroying, or concealing official documents'. Suspects U. A., as well as S. G. and S. Ö., who were responsible for cameras at Munzur University, were released under judicial supervision. Tunceli State Hospital IT staff Burçin Y. and Yücel E., who were detained on allegations of 'Destroying and concealing evidence' regarding the deletion of hospital records, were released under judicial supervision.
UMUT ALTAŞ TO APPEAR BEFORE JUDGE AGAIN ON JULY 21 Within the scope of the investigation, the hearing for the immigration case of fugitive suspect Umut Altaş, for whom an arrest warrant was issued via red notice and who was arrested after being detained in the USA, will be held on July 21.
HER BODY STILL NOT FOUND A special team of 30 people, consisting of Gendarmerie Search and Rescue (JAK) and JASAT teams affiliated with the Tunceli Provincial Gendarmerie Command, continues its efforts under the coordination and participation of Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor Ebru Cansu, upon the request of the Ministry of Justice and the instruction of the Ministry of Interior, to find Gülistan Doku's body.
Teams are scanning designated areas using ground-penetrating imaging devices, operating based on narrowed baseline data and suspicious points. Through infrared signals sent by the devices, three-dimensional images of the underground are obtained, allowing detailed examination of suspicious areas. Despite ongoing efforts covering an area of approximately 100 kilometers, the lifeless body of Doku has not yet been found.