As part of the new investigation into the alleged murder of Kurdish student Gülistan Doku, Tuncay Sonel, former Governor of Dersim and currently an inspector at the Ministry of Interior, has been suspended. He is being investigated on suspicion of having manipulated evidence in connection with the disappearance of the 21-year-old university student. According to the Dersim Public Prosecutor’s Office, there are “sufficient grounds for suspicion” that Sonel may have been involved in the destruction, alteration, or concealment of evidence. Accordingly, an investigation has been initiated.
Jurisdiction transferred to another prosecutor’s office
Since the allegations concern “individual criminal offenses,” the case has been transferred to the competent Public Prosecutor’s Office in Erzurum, which will now decide on the next steps. The reason is a legal regulation according to which investigations against governors are not conducted at their place of duty, but by a higher judicial authority.
Tuncay Sonel
Connection to main suspect
The investigations are related to the recent arrests in the case. Among the suspects is also Sonel’s son, Mustafa Türkay Sonel. He is being investigated, among other charges, for intentional killing, sexual violence, as well as manipulation of evidence. According to Doku’s family, he raped the young woman—who was last seen on January 5, 2020, in Dersim—at a youth center and later shot her.
Ministry of Interior initiates proceedings
In connection with the case, the Ministry of Interior has also launched an investigation against Tuncay Sonel. Doku’s family and numerous organizations had repeatedly pointed out that the state official is considered a central figure in the case. After the student’s disappearance, Sonel publicly speculated about a suicide theory involving a jump into the Munzur River and had extensive search operations carried out for months using diving teams and technical equipment. Family lawyer Ali Çimen accuses him of deliberately steering the investigation in the wrong direction in order to protect his son. “Sonel planned the entire course of events and is primarily responsible for the enforced disappearance of Gülistan Doku,” the lawyer said.
Two people sent to prison
In the meantime, two people have been remanded in custody in connection with the ongoing investigation. Among those arrested is former police officer Gökhan Ertok, who is accused of having destroyed or manipulated evidence. According to current findings, he is said to have inserted Gülistan Doku’s SIM card into his own phone and deleted data in the process. The prosecution accuses him, among other things, of destroying and altering evidence as well as manipulating digital data.
Also taken into pre-trial detention was Erdoğan Elaldı, a former employee of the provincial administration at the time. An arrest warrant has been issued against him on charges of intentional killing.
Two employees of Munzur University who are responsible for the surveillance cameras were also brought before the court. They were released under conditions after giving their statements. Seven other suspects were brought from custody to the prosecutor’s office on Friday.
Family members protested in front of the courthouse, chanting slogans and expressing their anger over the course of the investigation so far. “You are all murderers. Tuncay Sonel is a murderer. Let him come and save you,” family members shouted. During the protests, Gülistan Doku’s mother, Bedriye Doku, and her sister, Şilan Doku, collapsed. Both had to be treated on site.
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