Murder in a suitcase in Istanbul: Former police officer Cemil Koç's name linked to another woman's death

News: Rojda ALTINTAŞ

Ayşe Tokyaz was found dead inside a suitcase in the Mithatpaşa neighborhood of Eyüpsultan on Sunday. Investigations revealed that the young woman had last visited the home of her former boyfriend, Cemil Koç, in the Atakent neighborhood of Küçükçekmece, where she was killed and placed in the suitcase. The suitcase was later left on a sidewalk in Eyüpsultan.

Following the murder, an investigation involving security camera footage and witness statements led to the detention of Koç and 6 other suspects. It was revealed that Cemil Koç had previously been dismissed from the police force and had a criminal record for “intentional injury,” “drug use,” “insult,” and “threats.” Ayşe Tokyaz was laid to rest in her hometown of Hatay following procedures at the Forensic Medicine Institute.

Following this atrocity, Jahan Özeova, the sister of another young woman, Ejegül Özeova, spoke out. Jahan Özeova stated that her sister had also been in a relationship with Cemil Koç and that her death remains shrouded in mystery.

“We only found out 10 days after Eje died. After the earthquake, Cemil Koç had moved to Diyarbakır, and my sister had gone with him. We had even obtained a certificate of celibacy from Turkmenistan. They were going to get married. They had a relationship of about 2 years."

The story of how Eje met Cemil Koç is also striking:

“My sister was living with a girlfriend in Bahçelievler, and there was a break-in at the house in 2021. Since the boyfriend of her friend in that house was a police officer, she reached out to Cemil for help. That is how they met.”

Jahan Özeova said the last time she heard from her sister was on July 23, 2023, when she received a call to celebrate her birthday.

“She sounded very good when she called. She was cleaning, they were moving into a new house. She said Cemil had left the house and would be back a bit late. That day, she posted about me on her Instagram story for my birthday. It was a normal day. I didn't call her after that day. I called the next day but couldn't reach her. We used to talk through an app similar to WhatsApp in Turkmenistan. Her last seen was at 20:47 Turkish time. I could never reach her again. But honestly, I never thought she could be dead. I saw what was done to Ayşe on TikTok. When I saw it, I felt grateful for my sister. Then, when I looked at the details, I saw it was Cemil."

Adding that Cemil Koç had said he wanted to marry Eje, Jahan stated that Koç called her frequently after the incident and sent disturbing messages:

“He would call me constantly. He would ask, ‘I miss Eje so much, do you see her in your dreams?’ When I went to the cemetery, he would call and say, ‘Can you put the sound on speaker?’ The phone would always cut off. Even the cemetery didn't want to hear him.”

Jahan says she still has not seen a clear autopsy report regarding her sister's death:

“Cemil only said, ‘She fell from the 6th floor.’ No one gave me an address. Diyarbakır is very big, how could I find it? He said my sister's phone was under examination. He asked me, ‘Did you write anything to Eje?’ I said I had sent a message asking, ‘Did you have a fight? Did Cemil beat you?’ I checked the messages again 1 year later. The Instagram messages I sent to Eje had been read while she was in the morgue. When the subject came up and I asked Cemil, he told me, ‘I wish you hadn't written things like that, it could cause trouble. She is such an actress.’”

According to data released by the We Will Stop Femicide Platform, 63 women have lost their lives by falling from heights in the last 5 years.