New arrest warrants for Tuncay Sonel, Şükrü Eroğlu, and Gökhan Ertok: Gülistan Doku investigation

The additional testimony and judicial procedures at the Erzurum Courthouse have been completed for former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, bodyguard police officer Şükrü Eroğlu, and former police officer Gökhan Ertok, who had previously provided statements as suspects and remain in prison as part of the Gülistan Doku investigation. The suspects were arrested on 6 separate charges by the duty magistrate judge.

In the Gülistan Doku investigation, it was determined that there were WhatsApp exchanges between former Governor Tuncay Sonel and former police officer Gökhan Ertok containing illegal technical surveillance and interference with digital data. MASAK (Financial Crimes Investigation Board) examinations documented that, in return for these activities, bodyguard police officer Şükrü Eroğlu transferred money to Gökhan Ertok via his bank account. Tuncay Sonel, Şükrü Eroğlu, and Gökhan Ertok, who face charges including disrupting, destroying, or altering information systems, depriving a person of their liberty through force, threat, or deception, qualified looting, and unlawfully obtaining and disseminating personal data, were brought to Erzurum City Hospital in three prison vehicles under heavy security measures at 10:15 a.m. After health checks, the suspects were transferred to the Erzurum Courthouse. The magistrate judge decided that the 3 individuals, who were already in custody for other crimes, should also be arrested on these charges.

"THEY USED PUBLIC POWER AND OFFICIAL SHIELDS OF PROTECTION"

The Erzurum Chief Public Prosecutor's Office stated that under the coordination of the then-Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, high-level civil and police administrators, together with local bureaucratic elements and public officials, used public power, official shields of protection, and bureaucratic influence to interfere with judicial, digital, and medical systems. It was noted that, in light of all this data, a strong conviction supported by investigative data and material evidence has formed that the incident was committed within an organized structure involving multiple criminal acts. The statement also recorded that simultaneous operations were conducted today in 16 provinces targeting a total of 19 individuals, including law enforcement officers involved in the investigation carried out in Tunceli who were assessed to have engaged in suspicious transactions, and that 18 suspects have been apprehended.