04.05.2026 19:01
A new development has occurred in the investigation into Gülistan Doku, who has been missing in Tunceli since January 5, 2020. It was determined that the data on the mobile phone of Zeinal Abarakov, who is alleged to be Doku's former boyfriend and listed as the first suspect in the case, was deleted using special software on April 18, 2020, while the phone was in the custody of the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.
Abakarov, in his statement, upon being asked about the deletion of data, said, 'I do not know who did this and for what purpose. It is not possible for me to remotely access the phone, and since the phone was not with me during the specified dates, I have no knowledge of the operation carried out. After the said mobile phone and SIM card were taken from me in Antalya, they were never returned to me, and the phone and SIM card are still not with me. No one else but me knows the password of the WhatsApp application.'
12 SUSPECTS WERE ARRESTED The family of university student Gülistan Doku (21), who could not be reached from January 5, 2020, while studying in Tunceli, came from their hometown Diyarbakır to Tunceli and filed a missing person report with the police on January 6, 2020, but the search efforts yielded no results.
Based on new information obtained, in the scope of the investigation conducted by the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office for the crimes of "intentional murder", "sexual assault", "concealing-destroying crime evidence", "destroying-damaging data by unlawfully entering an information system", "depriving a person of liberty", "not reporting a crime", and "harboring a criminal", 17 suspects were detained.
Among the suspects, the then Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, Tuncay Sonel's son Mustafa Türkay Sonel, former police officer Gökhan Ertok who allegedly deleted the data on Doku's SIM card, the then Tunceli State Hospital Chief Physician Çağdaş Özdemir who allegedly deleted 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, and her stepfather, former police officer Engin Yücer, as well as Şükrü Eroğlu who was Tuncay Sonel's protective police officer at the time, were arrested. Uğurcan A., Munzur University security camera responsible Savaş G., Süleyman Ö., and Tunceli State Hospital IT staff B. Y. and Y. E. were released under judicial control with a ban on traveling abroad.
A red notice was issued for the fugitive suspect Umut Altaş, who was found to be abroad. Within the framework of the investigation against former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, the then Tunceli Police Chief Yılmaz Delen testified as a witness in Erzurum.