26.07.2026 13:50
Details have emerged regarding Memet Aca, the owner of the IT company arrested in the Gülistan Doku investigation. According to the file, Doku's SIM card was used to log into Instagram, activate WhatsApp, and erase data. Six minutes later, phone traffic began between Aca and former police officer Gökhan Ertok, who worked off the books at Aca's company. Following these conversations, Aca called Şükrü Eroğlu, the governor's bodyguard who sent the SIM card to Ankara. Witness Kenan Binici claimed that Aca disposed of the body.
In the investigation conducted by the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to shed light on the fate of Gülistan Doku, who has been missing since January 5, 2020, a critical arrest decision was made regarding the digital evidence dimension of the case. Memet Aca, owner of the company named ACA Bilişim, was arrested on charges of "inciting to corrupt or destroy data in the information system" and "inciting to destroy, conceal, or alter crime evidence" following his interrogation by the prosecutor's office and court.
BACKUP LINE TAKEN OUT BY DOKU FAMILY ACTIVATED IN ANKARA According to the investigation file, three days after her disappearance, Gülistan Doku's family obtained a backup SIM card for the same phone number. It was determined that the card was later sent from Tunceli to Ankara and used in a device in Ankara's Sincan district on January 18, 2020. According to the forensic report, the user of the SIM card, dismissed police officer Gökhan Ertok, illegally accessed Gülistan Doku's Instagram account around 21:23 on January 17. After various operations were performed on the account, logout occurred at 05:23 on January 18. Approximately one hour later, it was determined that an activation code was sent to the same card for installing the WhatsApp application.
WHATSAPP DATA DESTROYED According to technical findings in the file, the same SIM card was reused between 06:20 and 09:03 on January 18. It was stated that the message from the company Compatel could only be generated for the purpose of sending a WhatsApp activation code. The investigation authorities assessed that the data on Gülistan Doku's WhatsApp account was destroyed during this operation. In the court decision, these actions, along with the unauthorized access to the Instagram account, were considered within the scope of suspicion of "eliminating digital evidence."
DATA DELETED, PHONE TRAFFIC BEGAN 6 MINUTES LATER One of the most striking findings in the file was the consecutive phone traffic that began after the digital operations. It was determined that Gökhan Ertok performed his last operation on the SIM card at 09:03, and only 6 minutes later, at 09:09, he called Memet Aca. This conversation lasted 245 seconds.
At 09:45, Aca called Ertok and they spoke for 111 seconds, and at 10:05, Ertok called Aca again for a 201-second conversation. The HTS analysis noted that previously there were no such three consecutive calls between the pair.
Mehmet Aca was arrested and sent to prison. LAST CALL MADE TO THE GUARD WHO SENT THE SIM CARD After the three consecutive calls with Gökhan Ertok, Memet Aca was determined to have called Şükrü Eroğlu at 10:36. It was reflected in the investigation file that Eroğlu was the bodyguard of the then Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel and was involved in the process of sending the SIM card from Tunceli to Ankara.
The investigation authorities assessed this phone chain between Ertok, Aca, and Eroğlu as connected to the operations performed on the SIM card. Aca claimed that his conversation with Eroğlu was unrelated to the SIM card but said he did not fully remember the content of the conversation.
"100 THOUSAND LIRA COMPUTER" DEFENSE Memet Aca provided a different explanation to the prosecutor's office for the three-way phone traffic. Aca claimed that Gökhan Ertok said his computer was broken and asked Şükrü Eroğlu for 100 thousand lira. Aca stated that when Eroğlu said "Let Memet Aca call me," he called him, and he claimed he told Şükrü Eroğlu not to send the money. Aca said that all three conversations with Ertok were only about the broken computer and the requested money. However, due to the minute-by-minute overlap between the SIM card operations and the phone calls, and because Eroğlu, who sent the card, was called after the conversations, this defense was not deemed credible by the court.
Handan Sonel, wife of arrested former Governor Tuncay Sonel, was also arrested. "I KNOW ABOUT THE SIM CARD, DO WHAT IS NECESSARY" The statements of arrested suspect Gökhan Ertok became one of the main bases for the charges against Aca. Ertok said that after processing the SIM card belonging to Gülistan Doku, he became suspicious and told his boss Memet Aca about what happened. According to Ertok's statement, Aca responded, "I know." In another statement given to the Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Ertok claimed that Aca said, "I know about the SIM card, do what is necessary." Aca categorically denied these words and claimed that Ertok was slandering him to save himself and take revenge for being fired in the past.
HE SAID "IF IT WERE A NORMAL THING, HE WOULD HAVE COME TO ME" Memet Aca said he did not know that the SIM card was brought to his company. Aca stated that Gökhan Ertok had one of the keys to the company and claimed that Ertok went to the workplace without his knowledge and performed the operations.
Aca's lawyer also requested that the sentence "If it were a normal thing, he would have come to me" be added to the defense. However, the investigation authorities found Aca's defense that he was unaware of the critical operations performed by his own employee in the company environment contrary to the ordinary course of life.
HE ADMITTED TO EMPLOYING THE POLICE OFFICER UNREGISTERED Aca admitted that he employed Gökhan Ertok in his company while he was an active police officer. Aca stated that Ertok worked in the company without insurance and unregistered since 2018 and said he paid his salary sometimes from his own accounts and sometimes in cash. Aca explained that they did social media and city promotion work at the company and admitted that he left the management of the Tunceli Governorate's social media accounts to Ertok. Aca claimed that he trusted Ertok because he was a police officer and stated that Ertok also had the company key.
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PERSONAL ACCOUNT USED AS COMPANY ACCOUNT According to MASAK investigations, it was determined that Gökhan Ertok's personal bank account was used as a joint account of ACA Bilişim. It was found that some payments sent to and from the account included phrases like "ACA Bilişim" and similar expressions in the description section.
Memet Aca claimed that he was unaware of these transactions at the time they were made and only learned about them later. However, given the use of an employee's personal account in company activities and payments made in the company's name, Aca's defense that he was unaware of the transactions was not found credible.
HE SAID HE MANAGED THE GOVERNORATE'S SOCIAL MEDIA FOR FREE
Aca admitted that the social media accounts of the Tunceli Governorate were managed by his company.
However, he stated that he did not charge any fee for this service. Gökhan Ertok, on the other hand, claimed that the company received annual payment for this work and that the money was deposited into Aca's personal account.
Ertok also said that Şükrü Eroğlu sent him 5,000 lira twice, and he distributed this money among six employees working at the company. Aca, however, argued that he worked for free for the Tunceli Governorate and never managed the social media accounts of the Ordu Governorate.
63 PHONE CALLS WITH TUNCAY SONEL According to HTS records, it was determined that Memet Aca had a total of 63 phone calls with Tuncay Sonel via two different lines he used. Aca stated that he was not close to Tuncay Sonel and that they only had a normal friendship relationship.
In response, he admitted that Sonel asked him to convey his work to high-level individuals in Ankara, and he mentioned Sonel to the bureaucrats. Aca explained that Sonel sent him photos and information about the services he provided, and he then forwarded them to the relevant people.
CALLED THE GOVERNOR A DAY BEFORE DISAPPEARANCE As part of the investigation, it was also determined that Aca called Tuncay Sonel one day before Gülistan Doku's disappearance. According to HTS records, Aca spoke with Sonel for 112 seconds on January 4, 2020, at 8:27 PM.
In his initial statement, Aca said he did not fully recall the content of this call, noting that they generally spoke to convey Sonel's work to high-level individuals in Ankara. In his statement to the prosecutor's office, he explained that a state official present with him said Sonel used social media too much, and he called to warn Sonel.
“I GAVE A LARGE AMOUNT OF MONEY TO TUNCAY SONEL” Memet Aca also stated in his testimony that he gave a large amount of cash to Tuncay Sonel in two separate periods. Aca said that at Sonel's request, he made about 400-500 thousand lira in aid for orphaned children. He claimed he wanted to send the money via IBAN, but Sonel told him, "Not via IBAN, come to me and deliver it in person." Aca also stated that he gave 300 thousand lira to Sonel in the rest room at the governorate office to transport 194 students to Afyon by plane.
STREET NAMED AFTER AID It was also reflected in his testimony that a street in Tunceli was named after him following the aid he provided. Aca, who said a street in Atatürk Neighborhood was named "Mehmet Aca" due to the approximately 400-500 thousand lira aid, stated that this was at Tuncay Sonel's discretion.
Aca argued that there was no other benefit relationship beyond the mentioned aid and plane money. However, the prosecutor's office considered the phone traffic, social media services, and cash deliveries between Aca and Sonel as elements indicating the extent of the relationship.
“COVERED IT UP, DESTROYED THE BODY” ALLEGATION Aca was also questioned about the statement of Kenan Binici, who was heard as a witness in the case. Binici alleged that his former lawyer told him that Memet Aca had strong connections within the state and judiciary, covered up the Gülistan Doku incident, and destroyed the body. Aca stated that Binici was a relative but that there had been a long-standing family feud between them. Aca, who described all the statements as slander, requested that lawyer Fehim Güneş also be questioned.
BLAMED HIS EMPLOYEE: HE WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR MONEY In a significant part of his defense, Aca blamed his former employee Gökhan Ertok. Aca claimed that Ertok was addicted to drugs and virtual betting and would do anything for money, stating that if he had received instructions from Tuncay Sonel, he would definitely have carried them out. Aca also alleged that Ertok committed theft to obtain money from his family. However, the court ruled that the accusations regarding Ertok's past did not negate Aca's statement that he was aware of the SIM card transactions.
COURT DID NOT ACCEPT DEFENSE The Tunceli Criminal Court of Peace did not find Memet Aca's defense sufficient given the technical data in the case file. The decision considered the transactions on Gülistan Doku's Instagram and WhatsApp accounts, the subsequent Aca-Ertok phone traffic immediately after these transactions, the subsequent call to Şükrü Eroğlu, bank transactions, and Ertok's account of the "do what is necessary" instruction.
It was stated that there was strong suspicion that the suspect incited the concealment of crime evidence and destruction of data in the information system. Given that evidence collection was still ongoing and the investigation was conducted under restricted conditions, the judicial control measures were deemed insufficient.
Memet Aca was arrested on charges of "inciting the destruction or erasure of data in the information system" and "inciting the destruction, concealment, or alteration of crime evidence."