The family of a 26-year-old woman whose death was ruled a suicide last year has asked prosecutors to reopen her case, citing new suspicions arising from a widening investigation into the disappearance of her friend, Gülistan Doku.
Rojwelat Kızmaz went missing on Feb. 9, 2024, after leaving her home in the southeastern city of Batman. Her body was found three days later in a reservoir, and authorities recorded her death as a suicide.
“Following the latest stage reached in the Gülistan Doku case, new suspicions have been added to the previous question marks regarding Rojwelat,” Kızmaz’s family said in a written statement, filing a petition on April 27 with prosecutors with the chief prosecutor’s office in Batman.
The request comes after authorities reopened and expanded the long-stalled investigation into Doku’s disappearance, which has drawn national attention in Türkiye. The university student went missing in January 2020 in the eastern city of Tunceli. Search efforts were halted in October 2022 without locating her.
Since mid-2024, prosecutors have intensified the probe, examining allegations including homicide, destruction of evidence, deletion of digital traces and abuse of public office. A special unit was established after chief prosecutor Ebru Cansu was appointed to the Tunceli office in June 2024.
As part of the expanded investigation, former Tunceli police chief Yılmaz Delen — now serving in Yalova — was summoned to testify as a witness and traveled to Erzurum to give his statement, according to Turkish media reports.
Authorities have also detained 12 people in connection with the case, including former Tunceli Governor Tuncay Sonel, his son Mustafa Türkay Sonel and Tunceli State Hospital's chief physician Çağdaş Özdemir
