HTS records expose Zeinal Abakarov's lie: We were just checking in

The testimony of Abakarov, a Russian citizen who claimed not to know Turkish very well, was taken with the assistance of a sworn interpreter and has now been revealed.

Born in 1996, Abakarov stated in his testimony at the Public Security Branch Directorate that he lived in Alanya with his mother and stepfather and did not have a steady job. Abakarov said that he met Gülistan Doku in 2019 while they were both working at a cafe called Hanımeli in Tunceli, and that they became a couple.

Abakarov stated that after they became a couple, he introduced Gülistan to his own family, but that he had not met anyone from Gülistan's family. Claiming that he learned about Gülistan's disappearance from the press, Abakarov maintained that he had no information regarding the disappearance of Gülistan Doku.

HTS RECORDS EXPOSE ABARAKOV'S LIE

In his testimony given on March 17, 2022, Abakarov was asked about his statement that "Gülistan did not call him and he did not call her on January 4, 2020," which was proven to be a lie by HTS records.

Upon this, Abakarov said, "I gave that answer in my statement on March 17, 2022, because I did not fully remember the matter. Gülistan had tried to reach me on January 4, 2020, and I subsequently called her back. There is no reason that would drive me to lie about this matter."

"MY PHONE WAS ON SILENT"

The prosecutor's office determined that there were no calls between Gülistan Doku and Abakarov from December 22, 2019—the date of the last recorded contact in the investigation—until January 4, and that on the evening of January 4, 2020, between 20:00 and 23:09, there were numerous missed calls from Gülistan to Abakarov.

It was determined that a message was sent by Gülistan to Abakarov at 8:08 PM that same evening, followed by a 183-second call from Abakarov's mother to Gülistan at 8:24 PM, and a 148-second call from Abakarov to Gülistan at 11:14 PM that same day.

When asked why he did not answer Gülistan despite the persistent calls on the night she was last seen, Abakarov defended himself by saying, "My phone was on silent. That is why I did not see the missed calls."

Stating that he did not notice the missed calls, Abakarov claimed he called Gülistan back only after his mother alerted him.

"I DON'T REMEMBER"

Abakarov said, "While I do not remember the exact content of the conversation, it was to the effect that she had come to my house and wanted to speak with me."

When confronted with evidence suggesting that despite not having met for two weeks, Gülistan had left the cafe where she had just started working on the evening of January 4, 2020—10 to 15 minutes after certain individuals suspected in the case entered—and had rushed to Abakarov's residence to seek help from him and his stepfather, Engin Yücer, who is a police officer, Abakarov replied, "Gülistan Doku did not tell me anything about that."

"WE WERE JUST CATCHING UP, WE DIDN'T TALK ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE"

It was also determined that Gülistan Doku went to the house in the Atatürk neighborhood of Tunceli city center, where Abakarov lived with his family, on the evening of January 4, 2020. Abakarov gave contradictory statements while describing this meeting. Abakarov said the following:

"I was not at home when Gülistan Doku arrived at our residence on the evening of January 4, 2020. When I entered the house, my mother and Gülistan were sitting in the kitchen. I went over to them and sat down. Before joining them, I only took off my coat and sat down. At that time, Engin Yücer was watching TV in the living room.

We talked about daily things with Gülistan, caught up, and didn't talk about anything else. Since my mother was with us, we didn't discuss any private matters. Although I don't remember exactly how long we sat there, my mother left us after about 15-20 minutes. After my mother left, we talked about our relationship. I don't remember the exact duration of this conversation. Gülistan left about 20-30 minutes before the dormitory curfew of 11:00 PM, though I cannot be certain of the exact time she left our house."

Stating that Gülistan left their home alone, Abakarov said, "Immediately after Gülistan left the house, Engin Yücer gave me the car keys, saying, 'Don't let the girl go alone in this rainy weather at this hour, take her by car.' I left right after Gülistan."

Abakarov stated that Gülistan headed in a different direction than the one she usually used to go to the dormitory, and noted that even though he offered to let her get into the car, Gülistan rejected this offer. Abakarov continued as follows:

"Gülistan went on foot. I followed her slowly in the car. Then I pulled up next to her again, got out of the vehicle, and insisted that I wanted to drop her off, telling her she would be late for the dormitory. However, Gülistan refused again. During these attempts, the police arrived. They asked us if there was a problem.

I told the police, 'There is no problem,' and stated that I wanted my girlfriend to go to the dormitory. The police took our IDs and checked them. Subsequently, the police also offered Gülistan, 'If there is a place you want to go, we can drop you off.' However, Gülistan did not accept the police's offer either and continued walking toward the main road. The police did not let me leave because my vehicle had gotten stuck in the mud while I was moving slowly.

Since the police knew my father, Engin, they called him and summoned him to our location. As soon as the police called my father, he came to our car. In fact, my father was quite angry with me in front of the police because the car was stuck in the mud and I had insisted on following her when she didn't want me to. A few minutes later, we removed the vehicle from where it was stuck with the help of the police, and I returned to our residence with my father. Because of this situation, my father was angry with me after we got home, and he was also angry with my mother, who opposed this situation."

IT WAS DETERMINED THAT THERE WAS NO MUD ON THE VEHICLE

In his statement dated January 6, 2020, Abarakov made no mention of the vehicle getting stuck in the mud. The prosecutor's office also determined from camera footage that when Abarakov and his stepfather went to the police station to give statements during the night between January 5 and January 6, 2020, there were no traces of mud anywhere on the vehicle.

When reminded of this contradiction, Abakarov was asked when and where he had cleaned the vehicle.

Abakarov responded to the question as follows:

"I couldn't follow her because the vehicle got stuck in the mud and the police arrived. My stepfather was already angry with me because of what happened, so I couldn't continue in the direction he went. Of course, I wondered where Gülistan had gone, and I sent her a message on WhatsApp saying, 'Go to the dormitory or go to Küba.'

We didn't go anywhere else that day in my stepfather's vehicle; we returned directly to our residence. I don't remember what time we got home. While I was slowly following Gülistan Doku in the car, the vehicle slid slightly to the left side of the road and got stuck in the mud.

When I was trying to get the car out after it got stuck in the mud, the front tires of the car, as well as my shoes and the bottom of my trousers, got muddy. There was no damage or mud on any other part of the vehicle. In my statement taken on January 6, 2020, I may have skipped this detail because there was no interpreter present and my Turkish was not good."

I don't know about the fact that the vehicle did not appear muddy in the camera footage; perhaps my stepfather had it washed, as I was at work. I don't remember if there was any damage or breakage on any part of the vehicle."

"IT WAS VERY DIFFERENT FROM USUAL"

Abakarov claimed that after Gülistan Doku left their home on January 4, 2020, she did not get into the vehicle with license plate 19 AU 212 belonging to Engin Yücer, stating, "That day, Gülistan Doku was very different from her usual self; I am only now beginning to understand the situation."

In addition to Zeinal Abakarov, his stepfather, former police officer Engin Yücer, and his mother, Cemile Yücer, were also arrested in Alanya and sent to prison on charges of "destroying, concealing, and altering criminal evidence."

News Source: 12punto