21.04.2026 15:34
The statement of Dr. Çağdaş Özdemir, the former chief physician who was arrested as part of the investigation into the missing university student Gülistan Doku in Tunceli, has emerged. Özdemir said, "I do not have the authority or ability to delete hospital records. The necessary deletion processes would be carried out by Yücel Erdem. If a POLNET query was made and a report was taken, then there must be such a thing. If these records cannot be accessed afterwards, they have been deleted."
Since January 5, 2020, the investigation regarding Gülistan Doku, a second-year student of the Child Development Department at Munzur University, who has been missing in Tunceli, has led to the arrest of 11 suspects on suspicion of murder, with the latest arrested being Dr. Çağdaş Özdemir, the Chief Physician of Tunceli State Hospital at the time. Özdemir, who was arrested for 'altering, destroying, or concealing official documents,' has had his statement at the gendarmerie revealed.
Özdemir stated that in 2019 and 2020, he served as the Chief Physician of Tunceli State Hospital, while his wife worked as the head of the Tunceli Provincial Health Directorate, meaning she was the deputy provincial director.
"I TOLD GOVERNOR SONEL I WAS STRUGGLING TO PERFORM 2 DUTIES"
When asked about the reason for serving as both the Chief Physician of Tunceli State Hospital and the provincial health director for 3 years, he said, "I did not want this position myself; in fact, during the first months of my appointment, I went to the office of the then-governor Tuncay Sonel and expressed 2-3 times that I was struggling to perform these 2 duties, but I think it was due to the pandemic, there was no change."
"I HAVE NO AUTHORITY OR ABILITY TO DELETE RECORDS"
Özdemir stated that in 2019 and 2020, they worked with a software company named Sisoft at Tunceli State Hospital, mentioning that one of the two employees of the company in the hospital was Burçin Yerlikaya, and the other, who was primarily responsible, was Yücel Erdem. Özdemir was also asked who was authorized for the deletion and correction of records at Tunceli State Hospital in 2019 and 2020.
Özdemir replied, "The personnel and the company itself were authorized for the deletion, correction, and addition of hospital records; neither I nor any other hospital staff had such authority. Not only was there no authority, but there was also no knowledge or ability. I also have no authority or ability regarding this issue. I want to explain this with an example related to the deletion process; if a person named A's hospital application is taken and there is a possible incorrect recording due to the TCKN, the clinic or emergency secretary that opens the information processing record has the written document signed by 2 deputy directors and submits it in writing to Mr. Yücel, who then carries out the necessary deletion, correction, and addition processes. Such matters do not require my knowledge; if it was done before, I have no knowledge of it."
"IF RECORDS CANNOT BE ACCESSED LATER, THEY HAVE BEEN DELETED"
Özdemir, who stated that he did not know Gülistan Doku and had never seen her, was informed that despite the finding of an entry record at Tunceli State Hospital at 09:09 on December 31, 2019, according to the POLNET query output dated January 7, 2020, subsequent investigations could not access these records, and the deletion of the mentioned record was also questioned.
When the mentioned "POLNET" output and minutes were shown, Özdemir said, "I know that the POLNET system in question is a query system used by the police. I also know that POLNET obtains its data from the hospital. If such a POLNET query was made on January 7 and minutes were taken, then there must be such a thing. If these records cannot be accessed later, they have been deleted. I have no information regarding whether there is any other explanation for this; this issue needs to be resolved by IT experts. I have an opinion that it has probably been deleted."
"THIS SIGNATURE MAY BELONG TO MY DEPUTY CHIEFS"
In response to a letter dated January 8, 2020, sent to Tunceli State Hospital to provide "the records of Gülistan Doku for the last year (the clinics she visited, etc.)," although there was a cover letter dated January 9, 2020, with his signature, it was also asked of Özdemir why there was no Epikriz report dated January 31, 2020, among Gülistan Doku's Epikriz reports.
Özdemir stated, "This signature may belong to my deputy chiefs; they may have signed it to ensure that work does not lag when I was not present. I know that information was requested about Gülistan Doku regarding this document at that time; my deputy chiefs told me that they prepared and sent the document, but I do not know what its content is, and I have no information about the lack of epikriz reports in the attachments."
"THIS IS NOT CONSISTENT WITH MY PROFESSIONAL ETHICS"
As a result of the correspondence with the Akgün software company by the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, in the response letter received from the company on April 16, 2025, it was evaluated that "the hospital records of Gülistan Doku, which should be in the HBYS system dated December 31, 2019, were intentionally deleted with a professional and detailed study." Özdemir was asked, "Who gave you the order to delete the mentioned hospital records of Gülistan Doku? Who did you have carry out this deletion process?"
Özdemir replied: "As I mentioned above, I did not have any discussions with anyone regarding this issue and Gülistan Doku; if the matters mentioned in the letter from the Akgün company were done, I have no responsibility or knowledge in this. This is entirely the responsibility and control of the IT personnel and the software company Sisoft. I did not have such authority at that time in my user permissions. We have a service contract with the company. I have user authority regarding normal outpatient services and hospital statistics. Since I have no knowledge about this issue, I do not know who carried out the deletion process or who had it done. No one gave me instructions to carry out this process; they cannot, because I would not do such a bad job. This is not consistent with my professional ethics or personal character. Since I have no material or moral problem, no one can make me carry out such illegal, wrongful processes with any promise."