MOTHER OF MISSING GÜLİSTAN DOKU
‘I will sit in this square until my daughter is found’
* Photo: Twitter
Click to read the article in Turkish
As Gülistan Doku has been missing in Turkey's eastern province of Dersim since January 5, 2020, her mother Bedriye Doku and elder sister Aygül Doku have started a sit-in protest in Seyit Rıza Square.
Speaking to bianet, mother Bedriye Doku has indicated that even though it has been nine months, not a single trace of Gülistan has been encountered yet. She has underlined that she will continue with the sit-in protest in Dersim until the chief suspect of the file Zeınal is arrested:
"Until my daughter is found, until Zeınal is arrested, I will sit in this square. The prosecutor has demanded that Zeınal be summoned to depose by force, but they have still not taken his deposition. Who protects him? Who is behind Zeınal? Why is his deposition not taken?
"They said that my daughter had jumped into the water, they drained the water from the dam. But my daughter was not there. They should hear our voice now. I want to meet President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
'Former governor promised us'
"You also have children. What would you do if your children got missing one day? My daughter is 21 years old. She has been missing for months. I see her in my dreams, she asks for help.
"Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) Director Özdemir Aktaş would come to us and tell us that we should not speak to the press. He used to say that they would find my daughter. Former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel promised that he would find my daughter. Why are they silent now?"
CLICK - Attorney of Doku Family: The only suspect has access to file, fabricates evidence
Lawyer Çimen: Investigation proceeds at a snail's pace
Ali Çimen, the attorney of the family, has also indicated that the prosecutor's office does not conduct an effective investigation into the incident:
"The expert report on the 13-minute video footage featuring Gülistan's meeting with chief suspect Zeınal Abarakov, whom she met last, is added to the file. It is openly indicated that Zeınal shouted at Gülistan there.
"It was alleged that Gülistan jumped off the bridge at 12.25 p.m.; however, the expert report has revealed that she did not. The water was searched and Gülistan was not found there.
'The possibility that she may still be alive is ignored'
"However, despite all these, the requirements of the report have not been fulfilled. The investigation is proceeding really slowly, we want an effective and quick investigation into the incident. They issued a warrant for detention, but the suspect has not deposed yet.
"The investigation proceeds to not find her, rather than to find her. The investigation is proceeding at a snail's pace. The possibility that Gülistan may still be alive is ignored, it is assumed that she is dead. Where does this presumption come from? How does the prosecutor know this?"
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. In a statement released by the Tunceli Governor's Office on August 18, 2020, it was announced that the search efforts ongoing in the dam ended. |
(RT/SD)