In the case of Kurdish student Gülistan Doku, who was forcibly disappeared in 2020 in Dersim (tr. Tunceli) at the age of 21, new details have emerged that further call into question the previously assumed sequence of events. At the center are recent analyses of phone data, which offer new insights into the last hours before her disappearance.
Phone active until 18:45
According to the available data, Gülistan Doku’s mobile phone was still switched on until 18:45 on January 5, 2020. During this period, several messages were also received and demonstrably delivered. This finding raises new questions: either Doku was still alive at that time, or the phone continued to be used by another person. In both cases, the sequence of events appears significantly more complex than previously assumed.
Location data indicate a different movement pattern
The location data also present a different picture. According to this, the phone repeatedly sent signals from an area near a cemetery. By contrast, no phone signal was recorded from the area around the Sarı-Saltuk Viaduct, where earlier search operations had been concentrated. This once again casts doubt on the earlier official statements that Doku’s phone was last switched on there and that a suicide by jumping into the Munzur River was to be assumed. A previous report by the Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), which conducted search operations in the Munzur River for over 220 days, confirms that efforts were concentrated in this area, but without result. The new data therefore call into question the basis of that search strategy.
Further allegations against Tuncay Sonel
Parallel to these new findings, the legal situation has also intensified. The then governor of Tunceli, Tuncay Sonel, was sent to prison. The father of the main suspect, Mustafa Türkay Sonel, who is accused of having raped and killed Doku, faces allegations including the destruction and manipulation of evidence as well as interference in the course of the investigation. Now, the family’s lawyer, Ali Çimen, has also filed a complaint for involvement in a homicide. In justification, Çimen stated that the existing evidence can no longer be covered solely by the previous accusations and requires a broader criminal assessment.
Interior Ministry points to ongoing measures
Meanwhile, the Interior Ministry stated that additional investigators have been assigned to review the previous course of the investigation and to clarify “what role the various actors played during the investigation process.” The aim is to comprehensively clarify the case. Despite the new evidence, the case remains unresolved. The whereabouts of Gülistan Doku are still unknown, and her body has not yet been found. Another suspect, who is said by authorities to be in the United States, continues to be sought via a “Red Notice.”
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