Turkey’s Gülistan Doku case resurfaces with claims of pre‑disappearance POLNET queries and 108‑person cover‑up list

University student Gülistan Doku vanished on 5 January 2020 in Tunceli. Her lawyer, Ali Çimen, says the police‑information network POLNET was used to query her 41 days before she disappeared, generating a 40‑page record that began on 25 November 2019. The lawyer also presented prosecutors with a list of 108 individuals he alleges were involved in concealing or tampering with evidence; only 19 of those names have so far led to any action.

Çimen accuses former Tunceli governor Tuncay Sonel and former police officer Gökhan Ertok of orchestrating the queries and of using state resources to protect the case. He further claims Sonel tried to force the removal of Adıyaman governor Mahmut Çuhadar after the February 2023 earthquakes by deploying bot‑account campaigns on social media. The investigation continues amid allegations of a “cover‑up network” within the police and local administration.