Gülistan Doku Missing for 121 Days: ‘She Cannot be Found Dead or Alive in a Tiny City’

Click to read the article in Turkish

21-year-old Gülistan Doku, a sophomore at Munzur University, got missing in Turkey's eastern province of Dersim on January 5. As of today (May 4), the fate and whereabouts of Doku have been unknown for 121 days.

As the last signal was received from her phone on Sarı Saltuk Viaduct in Uzunçayır Dam Reservoir, Doku was searched in the water there. However, these searches have not born any results for four months.

Searching for Gülistan Doku in Dersim for months, her elder sister Aygül Doku has spoken to bianet. "All authorities tell us that Gülistan is in the waters of Brook Munzur. Esma Kılıçaslan and Specialized Sergeant Yılmaz Güneş were found there, but not my sister," says Aygül Doku and adds: "Because the searches were not seriously carried out."

CLICK - Gülistan Doku Missing for 101 Days: She was the Apple of Our Eye, She Had Dreams

She also tells us that she met Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel four days ago and briefly states the following:

"In the first twenty days, searches were conducted in the water, then it was said that the visibility range was not enough and the search operations were stopped. However, directed by the Governor, Prosecutor and Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, the team say that Gülistan is in the water. All evidence supposedly suggest that.

'Extend the scope of searches'

"The search teams also say that my sister is not in the water. Moreover, the searches were only done around the piers of the bridge.

"We want the scope of the searches to be extended and we want them to be carried out in a systematic manner, as it was done for Yılmaz Güneş. Yılmaz Güneş was found 44 days after going missing. Because he was searched seriously and systematically.

"We want the same systematic search for Gülistan as well. If she is really there, why not find her with a serious and systematic search? We want a thorough search including the dam gates. Having drifted for 15 kilometers in a flowing water, a soldier was found, why not my sister?

"Governor [of Tunceli-Dersim] Tuncay Sonel said that he would do his best to find my sister. We expressed our request that the searches be conducted till the area where the dam gates are located.

'Suspicions against Zeınal not eliminated'

"In a tiny city which is said to have the highest security in Turkey, my sister cannot be found either dead or alive for four months. Even when my sister was found in that water, I don't think that she committed suicide.

"Zeınal Abarakov, the prime suspect in my sister's disappearance, and his family have not been adequately inquired. The suspicions against Zeınal have not been eliminated. He and his family have left the city after the incident and nothing has been done. It is still not done." (RT/SD)