The inside story of the detentions in the Gülistan Doku investigation! Testimony 6 years later: Allegations of 'murder'...

In the Gülistan Doku investigation, which was reopened after six years and has led to the detention of 12 people, it has emerged that a secret witness applied to JASAT and explicitly stated that Doku was murdered.

The secret witness alleged that Gülistan Doku's remains were moved to multiple locations to prevent them from being found. Following this statement, an examination was carried out in the area in question using underground imaging devices.

“GRAVE-SHAPED VOID IDENTIFIED”

According to Yenişafak, the report prepared after the examination included the following statements:

“I was informed that there was a buried body at the coordinates (37 SEC 45090 – 99570) in the location next to the cemetery at the entrance of Koçpınar village in the Pertek district of Tunceli province, and I was told to search the specified area with an Underground Imaging Device. In the search I conducted in the specified area with the device in question for 2 hours, I detected a suspicious void within the searched area as the YGC device gave a warning; I determined that this void was in the image of a grave, approximately 1.60 – 1.70 cm long, 70 – 80 cm wide, and 80 cm deep.

I assess that a person was buried in the void I detected and removed after a certain period, and that this period was approximately 1-2 years; I also assess that an object like a backpack and a weapon may have been buried in the void along with the body, and that the oxidation occurring in the void was caused by this.”

CRITICAL STEP AFTER 6 YEARS

A significant development occurred in the Gülistan Doku file on April 13. Within the scope of the investigation, detention warrants were issued for 13 people in 7 provinces. While it was announced that 11 people were detained in the first phase, this number rose to 12 during the day.

Among those detained are Mustafa Türkay Sonel, the son of the then-Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel; Zeinal Abakarov, who is listed in the file as the last person Doku met; his mother Cemile Yücer; his stepfather Engin Yücer; and Şükrü Eroğlu, the bodyguard of the then-governor.

THE NATURE OF THE INVESTIGATION HAS CHANGED

The investigation is no longer being evaluated solely as a missing person case. The prosecutor's office is handling the file within the framework of suspicion of “murder and cover-up.” The destruction of evidence, the deletion of digital data, the use of public power, and the possibility of an organized cover-up are also among the focal points of the investigation.

NEW EVIDENCE ENTERED THE FILE

Developments that changed the course of the file include 700 hours of new camera footage, HTS and narrowed base station analyses, technical reports, and secret witness statements. According to reports from NTV and Habertürk, an anonymous note left for the family lawyer was also among the elements that drew attention in the investigation. It was reported that Mustafa Türkay Sonel's name was mentioned in the note, and subsequent examinations concluded that Sonel's vehicle movements on the day and night of the incident were not consistent with the normal flow of events.

SUSPICIONS REGARDING ABAKAROV ARE BACK ON THE AGENDA

Suspicions regarding Zeinal Abakarov have also come to the fore again in the file. In previous examinations, it was determined that the last contact made with the phone line registered in Gülistan Doku's father's name was with Abakarov. In later technical evaluations, allegations entered the file that some correspondence on Abakarov's phone had been deleted, that some messages sent after Doku's disappearance were noteworthy, and that some people around him had given contradictory statements.

DETAILS REGARDING THE DAY OF DISAPPEARANCE

Gülistan Doku, a second-year student at Munzur University's Child Development Department, has not been heard from since January 5, 2020. According to the investigation file, Doku boarded a minibus from the stop across from the governor's office on the day she disappeared, but it could not be determined where she got off the minibus. It was noted that she met with her ex-boyfriend Zeinal Abakarov on the same day, and the last signal from her phone was received from the Sarı Saltuk Viaduct line.

In the initial process, the possibility of “suicide” was emphasized in the file. Search efforts lasting months were carried out in the Uzunçayır Dam, but no findings were reached. It was reflected in the minutes that some camera footage overlooking the viaduct could not be obtained or was not clear, and that a university camera was also faulty. It was recorded that Gülistan Doku entered Abakarov's house the night before she disappeared. The next day, it was recorded that the camera angle had changed and the house door was out of frame.

INVESTIGATION DEEPENED

The file was expanded again with the appointment of a new prosecutor. On October 31, 2025, 700 hours of KGYS (City Security Management System) and workplace camera footage from the day Doku disappeared and the days prior were added to the investigation file.

News Source: 12punto