30.12.2025 10:40
The first hearing of the murder case of university student Ayşe Tokyaz, who was killed by former police officer Cemil Koç in Küçükçekmece and whose body was left by the roadside in a suitcase, continues on the second day. Esra Tokyaz attended the hearing, which experienced tense moments yesterday, wearing her twin's clothes. The defendant, Cemil Koç, who is accused of murder, said, "I did not kill Ayşe. I put the body in the suitcase."
The first hearing of the case regarding the murder of university student Ayşe Tokyaz (22), who was killed by former police officer Cemil Koç (38) in Küçükçekmece, Istanbul, and whose body was left in a suitcase by the roadside, continues on the second day with the defendants' defenses.
Ayşe Tokyaz's sister Esra Tokyaz, the defendants, and many spectators attended the hearing. Strict security measures were taken during the hearing.
The prepared indictment had been accepted by the Küçükçekmece 2nd High Criminal Court. In the indictment, aggravated life imprisonment was requested for the defendant Cemil Koç for the crime of 'murder with premeditation and inflicting torture with monstrous feelings against a woman', and prison sentences ranging from 4 to 15 years for the crimes of 'depriving a person of their liberty by using force, threat, or deception' and 'blackmail'. For the other 7 detained defendants, it was requested that they be punished with imprisonment from 15 to 20 years for the crime of 'aiding and abetting the murder with premeditation and inflicting torture with monstrous feelings against a woman'. Following the determination that Oğuz Kal participated in the crime committed by Cemil Koç, aggravated life imprisonment was requested for the crime of 'participation in the murder with premeditation and inflicting torture with monstrous feelings against a woman' and prison sentences ranging from 3 to 12 years for other crimes.
THE TWIN'S OUTFIT MADE AN IMPACT AT THE FIRST HEARING There were tense moments during the first hearing that took place yesterday. The contradictory statements of the suspect Cemil Koç overshadowed the hearing, while Esra Tokyaz arrived in the courtroom wearing her murdered twin's clothes. Here are the events that took place yesterday.
Esra Tokyaz, the twin sister of the murdered Ayşe Tokyaz (third from the right) KOÇ'S GAZE AT TOKYAZ CAUSED TENSION IN THE COURTROOM The hearing held at the Küçükçekmece 2nd High Criminal Court was attended by 9 detained defendants, including Cemil Koç, as well as complainants Esra and mother Halime Tokyaz, along with many members of the press and civil society organizations.
The hearing began with the identification of the defendants. During the start of the hearing, a dispute occurred between Cemil Koç and Esra Tokyaz. When Cemil Koç looked at Esra Tokyaz in the courtroom, Tokyaz reacted to the situation. Upon Koç's words, "I can look wherever I want," Tokyaz threw the frame containing a photo of Ayşe Tokyaz and water at the defendants. In response, the presiding judge warned the defendants to only face the podium.
"I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE BODY BEING TRANSPORTED IN A SUITCASE" Initially, detained defendant Cemal Arslan made a defense statement during the hearing. In his defense, Arslan stated, "I have no knowledge about the body being placed in a suitcase and transported. Esra told me that I was a witness when Ayşe and Cemil had a religious marriage, but that is not true. Cemil introduced Ayşe to me as his wife. We furnished Cemil's house together with Ayşe. Ayşe Tokyaz and Cemil Koç came to me together in Istanbul. I know Cemil's family closely. I help him with most of his work. I repaired his car when it broke down. We last met on July 8, and they had no signs of any assault on their faces. That day, there was also a car repair job. We all went together to repair the car and then went to Cemil's house. Cemil asked me to find a phone. I went and found a phone and brought it to Cemil. Cemil asked me to pick up Esra and drop her off at the dormitory. I was going to take Esra to the dormitory, but on the way, Cemil called me and said, 'Bring Esra back, I will drop Ayşe off at the dormitory.' Esra also told me, 'Let's go to the dormitory, I want to get my things.' We went to the dormitory and got the belongings. There were Ayşe's shoes in front of the door. When Esra asked, 'Where is my sister?' Cemil said, 'She is not here.' Esra asked me to take her to Cemil's house. While we were going home, Cemil called again and this time told us, 'I have a job in Kocaeli, I will pick up Esra's belongings from in front of the dormitory.' Esra wanted to go home to get Ayşe. We went home, Cemil was there, and there were Ayşe's shoes in front of the door. When Esra asked, 'Where is my sister?' Cemil said, 'She is not here.' Esra wanted to return to the dormitory. While we were on the way, Esra told me that she did not want Cemil to be with Ayşe. We arrived at the dormitory, asked the staff, and they told us that Ayşe had not come to the dormitory. We went back to Cemil's house, there were cleaners in the house, and Cemil was not there. We could not reach Ayşe either. After that, Esra went to the police to file a complaint. The next day, the police called me, and I went to the police station. I learned about this murder from the police; I have no connection to this incident. I only acted as a brother to Esra and Ayşe, I had no other purpose," he said.
"LOOK AT MY FACE! WHO AM I, AYŞE OR ESRA?" During the hearing, Esra Tokyaz turned to Cemil Koç and said, "Look at me, smile. Look at my face. Who am I? Ayşe or Esra? Who am I?" while trying to throw a water bottle. Koç responded, "If she talks that much, I will talk too." One person from the audience reacted to Koç by saying, "You shut up."
"I DID NOT KILL AYŞE, I WILL EXPLAIN WITH MY EVIDENCE" Cemil Koç stated in his defense, "I am currently unemployed; normally, I work in software and have an income between 60,000 and 80,000 lira per month. I have a criminal record. A case file was sent to me, but it could not be sent as a document, so I could not review it. I will make my defense after the file is sent to me. I will not talk about the incident. I did not kill Ayşe; I will explain with my evidence. I will make my own defense after reviewing the file, but for example, İlker is innocent. Cemal Arslan is innocent; he is a poor villager. The villager is already the nation of the master. The other detained defendant Uğur understood that something bad was happening and left; I accused him because I was angry with him, but he is also innocent. I do not even know the other people," he said.
"I PUT THE BODY IN THE SUITCASE" Koç said, "After the death, I called Uğur, and he came, thank God. The suitcase was closed and full inside. I put the body in the suitcase. Uğur did not see this. After the incident, we went to Uğur's shop; they were looking for the house, and a call came. I panicked. Uğur understood that something was wrong and ran away. I gave my first statement like that because I was angry with him. I used İlker to help me. But he had no knowledge of all this. I closed the trunk; I put the suitcase in. Around noon, the cleaning lady called and said, 'Son, what did you do?'
I panicked, and Uğur understood it too. He asked what I was up to. I said, "Drop me off somewhere, then you can go." I called İlker to my side; my aim was to get the car. But I didn't say that to İlker. The only fault of the kid was that he had answered me. The reason I called Uğur was that he had previously gotten himself into trouble. That's why I thought of calling him. I thought he would save me. I subtly checked him out, he didn't pass the ball back, so I didn't explain. Then Uğur ran away when he sensed something, but my belongings were in the car. Later, I went to the tavern. I encountered the detained defendant Necmettin. I told Necmettin, "I have a suitcase that needs to be buried." He asked me, "What's inside?" I said, "It's a historical artifact, but absolutely do not look inside." I told him to bury it and send me a photo and the address. However, Necmettin got caught. He told the police where it was and handed over the car keys. We agreed on 400 to 500 thousand lira for this job with Necmettin. Additionally, I met Ayşe through a dating platform. I had a religious marriage to avoid adultery, but the witness was not Cemal Arslan," he said.
HE CURSED ESRA TOKYAZ During his defense, Cemil Koç said to Esra Tokyaz, "Stop slandering, you incompetent." Upon this, Cemil Koç cursed the complainant Esra Tokyaz. Then tension arose in the hearing, and Cemil Koç was removed from the courtroom.
"I AM HERE FOR MY BROTHER'S JUSTICE" After the hearing, Esra Tokyaz stated, "Today, I was not here for my brother's justice; today Ayşe was here to claim her rights and justice. I already had one body left to defend, and if this is what you call justice, it is too late for that... She was here to claim her rights. I saw Cemil Koç inside, I saw the people on trial. In fact, all of them inside are my killers. I want to reiterate this in Diyarbakır because we are not sure. Those who help are my killers. Those who ignore are my killers. It needs to be reminded because I think it should be reminded now. Because in this country, in this system, every day, similar events happen where women, children, and animals are slaughtered while forests burn; I think it needs to be reminded once again. I, Ayşe Tokyaz, was found in a suitcase on July 13. Today I encountered my killer again. As Ayşe, I held him accountable; he cursed me back. He approached me aggressively, made accusations, but there is already a certain group that has been coding the truths as wrong from the very beginning. We can never change this group. My two words here won't change anything. That's why I know myself; I am the voice and breath of my brother in this world, and I am here to defend him. I will be here until the end. He can laugh at me as much as he wants, slander me, threaten me, in front of everyone, but I don't care. I have already lost everything I could lose. Even if I lose myself from now on, it wouldn't mean anything. If something happens to me from this point on, there are many women who will defend me. There are many women who know me now, and then for Esra, everyone will come here in front of the courthouse and shout for justice; that's why I am very at ease," she said.
KADEM MADE A STATEMENT Before the hearing, KADEM lawyer Sinem Ermiş made a statement in front of the courthouse, reminding that they were there to demand justice for 22-year-old Ayşe Tokyaz, and noted: "The tortured lifeless body of Ayşe Tokyaz was found in a suitcase left by the roadside in Eyüpsultan on July 13. The investigation revealed that Ayşe was systematically tortured and killed by the police officer Cemil Koç, who had been dismissed from the profession. This murder starkly shows the brutality that violence against women has reached. This trial seen today is not just Ayşe Tokyaz's case. This case is a test of justice regarding women's right to life. Women cannot be silenced by being threatened, pressured, or having their freedoms taken away. Violence against women is not an isolated incident. It is a serious social problem that grows as it goes unpunished and paves the way for new crimes. As the Association for Women and Democracy, we will follow this case until the end. We demand that the perpetrator and everyone involved in this crime be held accountable in the strongest terms before the law. Because justice for women is trust for society."