08.05.2026 18:00
The testimony of former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, arrested as part of the Gülistan Doku investigation, has emerged. Denying all allegations in his statement, Sonel said: "The claim that Gülistan became pregnant is a lie. I did not give any instruction to delete SIM card data. I also did not give any instruction to delete camera footage. The allegation that my son committed the murder is a despicable slander."
Important developments have been occurring in recent weeks in the investigation into Gülistan Doku, who disappeared in Tunceli on January 5, 2020, and has not been heard from since.
12 PEOPLE INCLUDING FORMER GOVERNOR AND HIS SON ARRESTED As part of the investigation conducted by the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 17 people were detained as of April 13, and later 12 people, including the then Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel and his son, were arrested and sent to prison.
SONEL'S STATEMENT REVEALED While the repercussions of the incident continue, Tuncay Sonel's statement has emerged. According to a report in Habertürk, Sonel said in his statement: "The claim that Gülistan was pregnant is a lie. I did not give any order to delete the SIM card data. I also did not give any order to delete the camera footage. The claim that my son committed the murder is a despicable slander."
HE ADMITTED SENDING THE SIM CARD TO ANKARA Tuncay Sonel admitted that he instructed his bodyguards to send Doku's SIM card to Ankara. The former governor claimed in his statement that Gülistan Doku's sister, Aygül Doku, said, "We have the SIM card, but we cannot deliver it to the public prosecutors," while sister Doku alleged that the governor forcibly took the SIM card from them.
Tuncay Sonel stated that he gave the SIM card to his bodyguard Şükrü Erdoğdu and sent it to former police officer Gökhan Ertok in Ankara. When asked why he did not hand over the card to the judicial authorities, Sonel reportedly replied, "I did it purely out of a human reflex, because I wanted it to be found quickly."
When asked another question about the delivery of the SIM card, Sonel said, "I did not hand it over to the investigating authorities, but I was in contact with the Tunceli Chief Prosecutor from time to time. I think I informed him."
WHY DID HE ORDER THOSE SURVEYS? Tuncay Sonel stated that a report came in and he sent his bodyguards to two separate locations to conduct surveys; however, he could not explain why they were not reported to the judicial authorities. Claiming that his son definitely did not know Gülistan Doku, Sonel rejected all allegations regarding his son, saying, "It is slander; my son does not have a gun. He neither had his own gun nor did he take guns from bodyguards."
SAMPLES TAKEN FROM MOTHER AND FATHER Meanwhile, as part of the investigation into university student Gülistan Doku, who has not been heard from since January 5, 2020, in Tunceli, DNA samples were taken from Gülistan's mother and father. It was learned that the samples will be compared with findings in the vehicle used by former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel's son, Mustafa Türkay Sonel, during the period of Gülistan Doku's disappearance.
WHAT HAPPENED BEFORE GÜLİSTAN DISAPPEARED? According to her sister Aygül Doku, Gülistan called her family shortly before disappearing and said she would visit them after her exams. According to the investigation file, Gülistan started working at a café on January 4, 2020. Abakarov, whom she had left some time earlier, also lived in an apartment above the café and worked at another café. That day, after receiving phone calls, Gülistan left the café and went up to the apartment. Hours later, she left the apartment. Abakarov followed her in his car. When tradesman Hasan Mor saw two people arguing on the street that night, he called the police. According to Mor, who spoke to BBC Turkish, the young man was forcing the young woman, saying, "Get in the vehicle." According to the investigation file, when the police arrived at the scene, Gülistan had already left. Having missed the curfew entry time, Gülistan stayed that night at the home of faculty member Hatice Keneş. According to Keneş's statement, Gülistan did not look well when she arrived. Among the messages Gülistan sent to Abakarov via WhatsApp that night was the phrase "I'm scared."
HOW WAS HER DISAPPEARANCE REVEALED? On the morning of January 5, Gülistan went to the café where Abakarov worked. Camera footage in the file shows them talking in front of the café. According to another image, Gülistan got on a minibus after this conversation. Despite it being Sunday, she went towards the university, not the dormitory. That day, she last communicated with her friend Küba. Speaking to BBC Turkish, Küba said that Doku told her she had a problem, saying, "But let me tell you when I come. Actually, can we stay at your place tonight?" Gülistan disappeared that day.
Later, in images that would enter the investigation file and be captured by a vehicle's camera, a person believed to be Gülistan would be seen sitting on the Dinar Bridge near the university. Two university staff members who also spoke to BBC Turkish would say that around 4:40 PM that day, they saw someone matching Gülistan's description walking slowly on the bridge towards the city side. When her friends could not reach her that day, they began searching for her. Unable to find her, they applied to the police. Her family also traveled from Diyarbakır to Tunceli a day later and filed a missing person report.
HOW WAS THE INVESTIGATION DEEPENED? In June 2024, Ebru Cansu was appointed to the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. After taking office, Cansu reexamined the case. Over time, new evidence was accessed. Among these were secret witness testimony, social media and mobile phone examinations, and new security camera footage.
WHO ARE THE DETAINEES AND THOSE ARRESTED? Following the new evidence, 17 people were detained in different provinces in April.
The names taken into custody are as follows: Former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel Tuncay Sonel's son Mustafa Türkay Sonel Former Chief Physician of Tunceli State Hospital Çağdaş Özdemir Former police officer Gökhan Ertok, accused of deleting data on Gülistan's SIM card Tuncay Sonel's former bodyguard police officer Şükrü Eroğlu Gülistan's ex-boyfriend Zeinal Abakarov Abakarov's stepfather, former police officer Engin Yücer Abakarov's mother Cemile Yücer Umut Altaş's father Celal Altaş Former Tunceli Special Provincial Administration employee E. E. N. A. F. H. G. U. A. S. G. and S. Ö., responsible for Munzur University's security cameras Tunceli State Hospital IT staff B. Y. and Y. E. Among these individuals, U. A., S. G., S. Ö., B. Y., and Y. E. were released under judicial control. All other names were arrested.
The Ministry of Justice has initiated official procedures for the provisional arrest and issuance of a red notice for suspect Umut Altaş, who is currently in the USA.
The arrested individuals denied the allegations in their statements.
RAPE AND MURDER ALLEGATION New details emerged with the detentions. Arrest records and detention referral documents show that the confidential witness named "February" in the file made significant claims. The confidential witness alleged that on December 27, Sonel, Altaş, Gülistan, and a friend of Gülistan used drugs at the Youth Center and engaged in sexual intercourse together. The same confidential witness also claimed that because Gülistan did not consent to sexual relations, Sonel and Altaş raped Gülistan after assaulting her, and that Gülistan became pregnant after the incident.
The confidential witness later alleged that Sonel killed Gülistan. According to the claim, Sonel called his father's protection police officer Şükrü Eroğlu to the scene after the murder. According to the same claim, Eroğlu buried the body under a tree next to the cemetery in the Koçpınar village of Pertek district, but the location of the body was changed one or two years ago.
Sonel and Eroğlu denied the allegations. According to the investigation file, teams from the Gendarmerie Crime Investigation Unit scanned the described area on January 12, 2025. The place indicated by the confidential witness was empty.
The examination considered that an object shaped like a backpack and a weapon might have been buried there along with the body, and that the oxidation occurring in the void was due to this reason.
The prosecutor's office concluded that the expert report was consistent with the confidential witness's statement and that the confidential witness's statement could be relied upon.