Critical testimony in the Gülistan Doku case: He tracked her phone using his Google account

The long-running investigation into the disappearance of university student Gülistan Doku in Tunceli is drawing attention with new developments. Following a review of the file by Ebru Cansu, who was appointed to the city as Turkey's third female chief public prosecutor, a significant milestone has been reached in the case. A special JASAT team, formed under Cansu's instructions, meticulously analyzed a total of 70 cameras and 700 hours of additional footage in the city, clarifying Gülistan Doku's route and her arrival and departure times at the cafe before she went missing.

The investigation was deepened through the examination of all collected footage, as well as License Plate Recognition System (PTS) and Call Detail Record (HTS) logs; several new suspects were added to the file. The investigation, which began as a missing person case, is now being conducted under suspicion of murder, and 17 people, including notable figures, were detained in simultaneous operations carried out on April 14, 17, and 24. A red notice was also issued for suspect Umut Altaş, who was determined to be in the United States.

NEW FINDINGS IN DIGITAL TRACKING EXAMINATIONS

Technical data that emerged during Zeinal Abarakov's gendarmerie interrogation revealed that various activity tracking had been performed on Doku's phone. Technical analyses by the National Criminal Bureau uncovered records of operations on the phone on January 4 and 5, 2020, the dates Gülistan Doku disappeared. It was learned that the activities were specifically directed at messaging applications via Google, and that findings of 17 separate activities were included in the file. The determination that the operations were carried out in Russian during the examinations led to the conclusion that they were likely performed by Zeinal Abarakov.

During his interrogation, the gendarmerie asked Abarakov why he was tracking Gülistan's phone, whether he had access to her messages, and what information he obtained as a result of the tracking.

'I USED MY GOOGLE ACCOUNT FOR LOCATION TRACKING'

Zeinal Abarakov stated the following in his testimony:

“I did not know the passwords for any of Gülistan's social media applications. I do not remember trying to access Gülistan's social media accounts. The Google account I used was registered on Gülistan's phone. I tried to find the location of Gülistan's phone from my Google account. In fact, when we were staying at a hotel in Antalya, I gave this account and its passwords to the police officers protecting us. Those officers checked my account with the information I provided, but they did not return to me regarding whether they found anything. Of these police officers, I only know Chief E. Chief E. was also with us during the period we first settled into the hotel. Before giving these accounts to the police, I noticed that a search for 'KYK DORMITORY' had been made in my Google account's search history after January 5, 2020, so I gave the account to the police so they could investigate this matter. I definitely did not perform this search operation, and I don't even know what KYK is. On the contrary, when we were together with Gülistan, I noticed that Gülistan Doku had installed an application on my phone to access the messages on my phone.”

12 PEOPLE ARRESTED IN LARGE-SCALE OPERATION

As a result of the operations, many individuals were arrested, most notably Mustafa Türkay Sonel, the son of the then-Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, and Erdoğan Elaldı, who had the last contact with Gülistan Doku. Furthermore, arrest warrants were issued for a total of 12 people for various crimes, including Zeinal Abarakov and his family, the family of fugitive suspect Umut Altaş, a dismissed police officer, and some public officials. These charges include "intentional killing," "destroying or concealing evidence of a crime," and "tampering with an official document." Other suspects were released under judicial control conditions.