23.07.2026 11:00
It has been alleged that Tuncay Sonel, the former Governor of Tunceli and a key figure in the Gülistan Doku investigation being discussed in Turkey, had a person who criticized him on social media taken from their home in a dawn operation and subjected to torture. A photo of the tortured individual, with hands cuffed behind their back and face covered in blood while lying on the ground, was reportedly sent to Sonel.
New developments have emerged in the closely followed Gülistan Doku investigation in Turkey. In the investigation led by the Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, correspondence and photographs obtained from the examination of the phone of former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel have been added to the case file.
The studies revealed that the WhatsApp account used via the GSM number belonging to and used by former Governor Tuncay Sonel was registered under the name Turgay Kılıç. The messages exchanged between Sonel and dismissed police officer Gökhan Ertok are chilling.
THEY KIDNAPPED A PERSON CRITICIZING THE GOVERNOR IN A DAWN OPERATION AND TORTURED HIM
It has been determined that Tuncay Sonel instructed Gökhan Ertok to identify a person who made posts against him on social media. Ertok, stating that he identified the user of the person's social media account, said he took this person from their home with his team in a 'dawn operation' that cannot be traced in official records. Subsequently, it was determined that he sent Tuncay Sonel a photo of this person lying on their back on the street, hands cuffed behind their back and face covered in blood.
HE BOARDED A FOREIGN WOMAN ON A PLANE AND SENT HER AWAY
It was revealed that after the torture incident, Gökhan Ertok said he identified another social media user, went to Samsun, boarded a foreign woman on a plane and sent her abroad, took her phone and gave her a tracked phone, and then asked Tuncay Sonel for the money for this phone.
Four days after the dates of the messages added to the case file, it was determined that 20,000 TL (as of the transfer date 05.11.2021, the minimum wage was approximately 2,800 TL, and a police officer's salary was approximately 7,400 TL) was sent from the account of Şükrü Erpğlu, who was Sonel's protection police officer, to Ertok's account.
THEY PLACED BUGS IN PEOPLE'S HOMES
A message from Gökhan Ertok was also added to the file, in which he reported that he detained another person who criticized Sonel on social media, took them to the prosecutor's office, a judicial control measure was applied to this person, he copied the citizen's mobile phone, could watch them through the front and rear cameras, and placed bugs in their home to track them.
Here is that message: