29.04.2026 09:12
The case of Gülistan Doku, who went missing in Tunceli on January 5, 2020, was reopened after 6 years and started to be treated as a murder, leading to the arrest of 12 people. What remains of Gülistan Doku is footage of her singing and dancing halay with friends to the accompaniment of a bendir in front of the dormitory where she stayed.
After 6 years, the file of Gülistan Doku, who went missing in Tunceli on January 5, 2020, was taken off the shelf, and with new evidence, the case shifted from a routine missing person case to a murder case.
12 PEOPLE ARRESTED
12 people were arrested, including the then-governor of Tunceli, Tuncay Sonel; his son Mustafa Türkay Sonel; and the then-chief physician of Tunceli State Hospital, Çağdaş Özdemir. The deepened investigation moved beyond a missing person case and began to be handled under suspicion of murder.
THESE IMAGES REMAIN OF GÜLİSTAN
Images said to have been taken 10 days before Gülistan Doku disappeared have come to light again. The images show the young woman singing and dancing a halay accompanied by a bendir in the garden of the Credit and Dormitories Institution Directorate in Atatürk Neighborhood, with her friends.
WHAT HAPPENED?
The family of Gülistan Doku (21), a university student in Tunceli, who could not hear from her since January 5, 2020, came from their hometown Diyarbakır to Tunceli and filed a missing person report with the police on January 6, 2020. Search efforts yielded no results.
In line with new information obtained, an investigation was launched by the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on charges of "intentional homicide," "sexual assault," "concealing-destroying evidence of a crime," "destroying-altering data by unlawfully accessing an information system," "depriving a person of liberty," "failure to report a crime," and "harboring a criminal." Within this scope, 15 suspects, including the then-governor of Tunceli, Tuncay Sonel, were detained.
Among the suspects, the then-governor of Tunceli, Tuncay Sonel, who is alleged to have tampered with evidence; his son Mustafa Türkay Sonel; former police officer Gökhan Ertok, accused of deleting data from Doku's SIM card; the then-chief physician of Tunceli State Hospital, Çağdaş Özdemir, accused of deleting hospital records; former Tunceli Special Provincial Administration employee Erdoğan Elaldı; Celal Altaş; Nurşen Arıkan; Ferhat Hanedan Güven; Doku's boyfriend Zeinal Abakarov; her mother Cemile Yücer; her stepfather and former police officer Engin Yücer; and Şükrü Eroğlu, who was Tuncay Sonel's protection police officer at the time, were arrested. Uğurcan A., Savaş G. (responsible for security cameras at Munzur University), and Süleyman Ö. were released under judicial control with a travel ban.