Special task force established for the Yusuf Kavuk murder

Müslim SARIYAR/12punto.com.tr EXCLUSIVE

The body of 31-year-old Yusuf Kavuk, who was learned to have come to Bursa from Nevşehir, was found yesterday morning in a wooded area in Bozüyük, Bilecik. The suspicious disappearance of Yusuf Kavuk, which was brought to the agenda on the Müge Anlı ile Tatlı Sert program, quickly became a major topic in Turkey.

What happened during the 6 months since Yusuf Kavuk went missing?

What kind of work did the special task force established at the Bursa Homicide Bureau carry out? What did the arrested suspects say in their statements? Who did the perpetrator, Harun Ateş, take with him to transport and bury the body in Bilecik?

12punto.com.tr has reached the answers to these questions that all of Turkey is curious about.

Yusuf Kavuk, a chef in Nevşehir, suddenly disappeared last July. After the family filed a missing persons report, the police launched an investigation and determined that Kavuk had come to İnegöl, Bursa. While teams from the Bursa Public Security Branch Directorate's Missing Persons Bureau and the İnegöl District Police Department were working on the case, the file was handed over to a special task force established at the Public Security Branch Directorate's Homicide Bureau due to the possibility that the missing Kavuk had been murdered.

The special task force established within the Homicide Bureau placed Harun Ateş and Derya Altun, the last people to see Yusuf Kavuk, under physical and technical surveillance. While Yusuf Kavuk's family was searching for their child on the Müge Anlı program, the special team continued its work in great secrecy.

OPERATION LAUNCHED ON TUESDAY

On January 2, 2024, the operation was launched under the instruction of the İnegöl Public Prosecutor. In a simultaneous operation, the special task force from the Bursa Public Security Branch Directorate's Homicide Bureau detained Harun Ateş, Derya Altun (alleged to be Yusuf Kavuk's girlfriend), Kübra Ş., Burcu S., and Dilber Ş.

I MET YUSUF IN 2020

In her statement, Derya Altun, one of the suspects questioned by the Homicide special task force, said, "We met Yusuf when I went on vacation to Alaçatı in 2020. Afterward, we had a romantic relationship. We broke up after a while. But we continued to see each other as friends. Since I was studying in Macedonia, I was constantly traveling back and forth. In May 2023, Yusuf and I went to Macedonia together. A day later, Harun, whom I was with in Bursa, must have been suspicious because he followed us to Macedonia."

"I INTRODUCED YUSUF AS MY RELATIVE"

"When I learned that Harun had arrived, I told Yusuf, 'I will introduce you to the person who came as my relative.' Then, when Harun arrived, I said he was a close relative. While we were there, Yusuf proposed to me. When I didn't accept, he left Macedonia. I never saw him again after that. I found out he was missing when his brother told me," she reportedly said.

REMAINED SILENT AT THE POLICE STATION, CONFESSED TO THE PROSECUTOR

Harun Ateş, who was questioned by the Homicide special task force, exercised his right to remain silent and did not give a statement. Upon being referred to the prosecutor's office, Ateş confessed to the murder to the prosecutor and the special team. He confessed that after killing Yusuf Kavuk, he dumped the body in the Atatürk Forest in Bozüyük, Bilecik, and covered it with stones. The bones of the body, determined to belong to Yusuf Kavuk, were found at the location indicated by Ateş and sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute.

HE DESCRIBED THE MURDER

In his statement taken at the Bursa Public Security Branch Directorate's Homicide Bureau, Harun Ateş said, "He called me from a phone booth at the Bursa Bus Terminal. He stated that his phone wasn't working because it was a foreign line, so he called from the booth and said he was at the Bursa Bus Terminal. I went and picked him up in my vehicle. After a while, we started arguing because of Derya. I stopped the vehicle near the Furniture Market. We got out. He took a knife out of his pocket and started swinging it at me. I took it from his hand and killed him by stabbing him. Then I put Kavuk's body in the trunk of the vehicle. At night, I went to Derya as if nothing had happened. I didn't tell her anything. In the morning, I got up and took him to the wooded area in Bozüyük, Bilecik, which I knew from before, and dumped him. I covered him with stones."

I WENT FOR A PICNIC AND CHECKED THE BODY

"After the murder, I took Derya and her family there for a picnic a few times. I would move away from them, check the body to see if it had been found, and then come back to Derya and the others. I even used other people's vehicles for these picnics, saying my car was broken. After I killed Yusuf Kavuk, I even gave his iPhone headphones as a gift to Derya's son."

HE CAME TO KILL ME

"If I hadn't killed him, he would have killed me. He had already come there without taking his phone. Also, I learned here that he had bought his bus ticket under someone else's name. He was going to kill me and return to Nevşehir. That was definitely his plan. He wanted to get rid of me because he was jealous of Derya," he reportedly said.

Following their interrogations, Harun Ateş, Derya Altun, Kübra Ş., Burcu S., and Dilber Ş. were referred to the İnegöl Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

After their statements to the prosecutor, Burcu S. was released, while the other suspects were referred to the court. Following their statements in court, Harun Ateş and Derya Altun were arrested for 'intentional homicide' and sent to prison. Kübra Ş. and Dilber Ş. were released under judicial control conditions.

News Source: Müslim Sarıyar