15.05.2026 18:11
Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office appealed to the Court of Cassation, deeming the 17-year prison sentence given to Nevzat Bahtiyar in the Narin Güran murder case insufficient. The prosecutor's office argued that Bahtiyar should be punished not only for "aiding murder" but also for "premeditated murder of a child in complicity" along with other suspects.
The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office has objected to the 17-year prison sentence given to Nevzat Bahtiyar, who was retried in the case regarding the murder of 8-year-old Narin Güran, on charges of "aiding qualified intentional murder," and has appealed the decision.
“THE DEFENDANTS ACTED TOGETHER DURING THE INCIDENT”
The Chief Prosecutor's Office argued that Bahtiyar should be punished not only for "aiding qualified intentional murder" but also for "intentional murder of a child in complicity" together with the other defendants.
The appeal petition stated that camera recordings, cell tower analysis reports, vehicle inspections, and forensic reports indicate that the defendants acted together during the incident. The Chief Prosecutor's Office stated that Bahtiyar's attitude during the process of hiding the body revealed his complicity and requested that the verdict be overturned on the grounds that it violated procedure and the law.
The case file has been sent to the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation for review.
REASONED DECISION WAS ANNOUNCED
In the hearing of the case heard at the Diyarbakır 8th Heavy Penal Court on April 16, a 49-page reasoned decision regarding the prison sentence imposed on Nevzat Bahtiyar was written.
The decision recalled that after the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation overturned the 4-year-6-month prison sentence for "destruction, concealment, or alteration of crime evidence" regarding the murder of Narin Güran, on the grounds that it should be evaluated within the scope of "aiding qualified intentional murder," Nevzat Bahtiyar was retried.
The decision included statements from the arrested defendant Bahtiyar, who confessed to hiding Narin Güran's lifeless body in the Eğertutmaz Stream, as well as from Narin's father Arif Güran, the Ministry of Family and Social Services, and the lawyers of the parties. The decision stated that uncle Salim Güran and Nevzat Bahtiyar had long been close friends, and that defendant Güran was not in the village due to shopping and invitation distribution for some people in the rural neighborhood as part of his niece's wedding preparations.
"IT IS UNDERSTOOD THAT NARIN WAS KILLED BY DEFENDANTS SALİM, YÜKSEL, AND ENES"
The decision stated that it was understood that the defendants, uncle Salim, brother Enes, mother Yüksel Güran, and neighbor Nevzat Bahtiyar, were in the village before the time of the act, and stated, "It has been understood that the defendants began communicating in the time period before the incident. Before the incident, Nevzat Bahtiyar called Salim Güran at 15:08 and contacted him. The victim, who left the Quran course, went home using a path that was understood to be shorter than the route she always used. Before the incident, defendants Salim and Nevzat were near each other in the area of the road the victim always used and near the victim's home. When the victim left the path and came to the location of her home and its outbuildings, it is understood that the victim Narin was killed by defendant Salim, who had come there, and the other defendants Yüksel and Enes, who were at home. Defendant Salim handed over the victim's body to his friend defendant Nevzat, who was with him before the incident and waiting outside the house, for the purpose of hiding or destroying it. This was supported by the increased common use of cell towers by defendant Nevzat and defendant Salim around 15:25 and 15:46."
The decision noted that it was understood that defendant Bahtiyar took the victim's body in a sack to the part of the stream where the lifeless body was found during searches, where it met the soil, left it there, and covered it with stones. The decision stated, "The court did not accept the statements and defenses of defendant Nevzat that defendant Salim took him to a room in the house and showed him Narin's lifeless body lying on the floor, implying that the defendant was not at the scene. It has been concluded that defendant Nevzat Bahtiyar participated in the act of killing the victim by being present with defendant Salim Güran, strengthening the decision to commit the crime before and during the act, and providing assistance after the act, in the capacity of an aider to the killing act. In line with the Court of Cassation's ruling regarding the defendant's act against the victim, a conviction was imposed for the crime of aiding 'qualified intentional murder.'”
WHAT HAPPENED?
In the case regarding the murder of Narin Güran, who disappeared on August 21, 2024, in the Tavşantepe neighborhood of the Bağlar district of Diyarbakır and whose lifeless body was found in the Eğertutmaz Stream on September 8, 2024, the arrested defendants—mother Yüksel, brother Enes, and uncle Salim Güran—were sentenced to aggravated life imprisonment for "intentional murder of a child in complicity," while Nevzat Bahtiyar was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison for "destruction, concealment, or alteration of crime evidence."
The Diyarbakır Regional Court of Appeals, 1st Criminal Chamber, found the first instance court's verdict against the defendants to be lawful. The Court of Cassation Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had requested the affirmation of the aggravated life sentences for mother Yüksel, brother Enes, and uncle Salim Güran, and the 4-year-6-month sentence for Nevzat Bahtiyar in the Narin Güran murder case. The 1st Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation upheld the aggravated life imprisonment sentences for the arrested defendants Yüksel, Enes, and Salim Güran, but overturned the 4-year-6-month sentence for Nevzat Bahtiyar for evaluation within the scope of "aiding qualified intentional murder." The court panel, on April 16, ruled that the retried neighbor Nevzat Bahtiyar be sentenced to 17 years in prison for "aiding qualified intentional murder" and that his detention continue.