Hair and fiber samples from Narin match mother and brother: Defense attorney explains

Former Diyarbakır Bar Association President Attorney Nahit Eren, in a post on his social media account regarding the case, recalled that they had previously stated they would provide explanations to inform the public on important issues that have been the subject of intense debate regarding the Narin case file. Reminding that the DNA studies conducted by the Council of Forensic Medicine on the hair and fiber samples taken from Narin's left palm and her clothing—including those with roots—did not yield positive results, he included the following statements:

“Mitochondrial DNA analysis can be performed on hair samples that do not yield positive results in terms of standard DNA. (Information was provided that this can only be done at the Istanbul Council of Forensic Medicine.) Mitochondrial DNA is passed only from mother to child and is the same in individuals within the same maternal lineage (such as siblings, grandmother, aunt, uncle, and cousins on the maternal side), thus providing information on whether individuals come from the same maternal lineage.

The 29 cm hair samples found in Narin's palm and on her black shorts, as well as the fiber samples taken from her—one 11 cm and the other 16 cm—were subjected to Mitochondrial DNA analysis by the Istanbul Council of Forensic Medicine.

It was determined that the hair and fiber samples in question are consistent with the Mitochondrial DNA base sequence of Narin, her mother Yüksel Güran, and her brother Enes Güran.

Since the Mitochondrial DNA of a mother and her children (regardless of gender) is the same, it cannot be determined exactly to whom the hair and fiber samples belong. An additional report regarding the requested narrowed base station study and the report prepared by the National Criminal Bureau regarding the camera footage from the Daran-2 Military Base Area have reached our case file. There are still reports that have not yet arrived and are being awaited.”

THE INCIDENT

Narin Güran, who went missing on August 21 in the Tavşantepe neighborhood of the central Bağlar district, was found dead in the Eğertutmaz Stream on September 8. Within the scope of the investigation conducted by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, 12 out of 23 suspects taken into custody were arrested, including her uncle Salim, mother Yüksel, brother Enes Güran, and their neighbor Nevzat Bahtiyar.

The investigation into Salim, Yüksel, and Enes Güran, as well as Nevzat Bahtiyar, has been completed, and the indictment prepared for the 4 defendants, seeking aggravated life imprisonment for the crime of "intentional killing of a child in complicity," was accepted by the Diyarbakır 8th High Criminal Court on October 23.

The trial of the defendants began on November 7, and the hearing, which lasted 3 days and resulted in the decision to continue the detention of the defendants, was adjourned to December 26.