WHAT HAPPENED TO GÜLİSTAN DOKU?

Tunceli Governor’s Office: Search efforts for Gülistan Doku ended

University student Gülistan Doku has been missing in Turkey’s eastern province of Dersim since January 5, 2020.

İstanbul

Tunceli Governor’s Office: Search efforts for Gülistan Doku ended

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The Governor's Office of Tunceli has announced that the search efforts for Gülistan Doku ongoing for 13 days have been ended.

A 21-year-old student of Munzur University in Dersim province, Gülistan Doku has been missing for 227 days since January 5, 2020.

With the water drained from the Uzunçayır Dam Lake, Gülistan Doku was being searched on the soil ground for 13 days.

CLICK - Water drained from dam, Doku searched on soil ground

The Governor's Office of Tunceli has released a statement about the recent search efforts for Gülistan Doku.

The statement of the office has noted that "in the works that continued for 13 days without interruptions, the area to be searched was divided into 15 sectors and an area of around 1,320 decares at a distance of 4 kilometres was meticulously searched both under and above the water."

"The works undertaken with the help of underwater search robots, sonar and underwater divers have been ended as of August 18, 2020," the statement has announced, briefly adding the following:

"In search efforts for Gülistan Doku, all facilities and capabilities have been used and the works that we have been continuing for 226 days, with the hope of finding her every day, have unfortunately remained inconclusive."

The statement has also indicated that the judicial process is still ongoing.

Gülistan Doku, a sophomore at Munzur University Department of Child Development, has been missing in Dersim since January 5, 2020.

What happened?

University student Gülistan Doku did not return to the Credit and Dormitories (KYK) Women's Dormitory on January 5, 2020. As her roommates could not reach her by phone, they got worried and appealed to the Tunceli Provincial Directorate of Security. Her family was also informed about the issue. The family came to Dersim on January 6 and reported Gülistan Doku missing at the security directorate.

Consulting her friends and tracking the signals of her mobile phone, police officers also examined the city surveillance cameras and found that she got on the university minibus at the bus stop in Atatürk Neighborhood at 11.29. However, even though the city surveillance cameras along the way were examined, it could not be determined where she got off.

The driver of the minibus was identified and summoned to depose. The driver said that the minibus did not enter the university as it was Sunday, the minibus returned empty and he could not remember where Gülistan Doku got off.

It is speculated that Doku got off at Sarı Saltuk Bridge in the city center, the only bus stop outside the sight of surveillance cameras.

Thanks to the struggle of women and the Doku family, the authorities decided to drain the water of the dam to find her.

On June 17, a petition was submitted to the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office to arrest Zeınal Abarakov, the chief suspect of the file.

On August 29, the expert report was completed. Afterwards, Ali Çimen, the attorney of the Doku family, made another application for the arrest of Abaravakov. Rejecting this request, the Tunceli Chief Public Prosecutor's Office decided to take his deposition.

On August 4, the expert review of the footage that allegedly shows Gülistan Doku jumping off a bridge was completed.

According to the review by the National Criminal Bureau firm, what is seen in the footage is not Doku jumping off the Dinar Bridge, where she was last seen, but "residual pixels."

"The effect on the bridge abutment is a pixel residue and definitely not a water column created by a person or object that falls into the water," the report concluded.

(EMK/SD)