Biography
21 years old, was a 4th semester student at the vocational school in Dersim for children’s education.
Place
Dersim, Southeastern Turkey
Date
2020-01-05
Description
She has not been heard from since 5 January and the search for her was unsuccessful.
She was not seen again after leaving the student residence. Her family came to Dersim from Amed to file a missing persons report. Investigations were initiated. During the investigation process, it became known that on 5 January 2020, search operations were initiated at Sarı Saltuk Viaduct Uzunçayır Dam Lake on the Dersim-Elazığ motorway, where Gülistan’s phone signal was completely interrupted. The searches, which lasted 225 days and ended on 18 August, were resumed by the Governor in Dersim on 15 October.
Current legal situation
During investigations, a name and a suspect were found, but their names were censored. Questions in Parliament on the resolution of this crime remain unanswered.
Zainal A., the childhood education student’s ex-boyfriend, could be a possible perpetrator. He has since gone underground and is apparently protected from prosecution. The man of Russian origin had tried to drag the young woman into his car by force just one day before the disappearance of Doku. Doku fought back and passers-by who had observed the event informed the police. However, the police ruled out Zainal A., whose stepfather is a police officer in Dersim, as a suspect relatively early on. But the authorities have no trace either, although almost every area of Dersim province is monitored 24 hours a day with surveillance cameras and directional microphones. Instead, the police suspect that the student has committed suicide. Women’s organizations fear a crime of violence that is covered up by the security apparatus.
