Gülistan Doku, a sophomore of Child Development at Munzur University, went missing in Turkey’s eastern province of Dersim on January 5, 2020. Her fate and whereabouts have been unknown since then. Her family have started a sit-in protest in front of the Tunceli Courthouse.
Coming from Turkey’s Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Diyarbakır to Dersim (Tunceli), Gülistan Doku’s mother Bedriye Doku, her father Halit Doku and elder sister Aygül Doku wanted to meet Governor Mehmet Ali Özkan; however, the police prevented the family.
Speaking in front of the courthouse, Aygül Doku recalled what Umut Ömer Karaduman, the deputy principal clerk of the Governor’s Office, said during the Justice Minister’s visit to Dersim. According to Doku, Karaduman told journalists “not to ask questions about Gülistan Doku”.
Addressing Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gül, elder sister Aygül Doku said, “You are responsible for Gülistan Doku. You are responsible for putting the perpetrators on trial. You are obligated to find her.”
Addressing the public as well, she said, “We were waiting for our daughter to come home a week later. Our daughter has not been here for two years. We expect everyone to lay claim to Gülistan Doku so that we will not search for other Gülistans, for our children tomorrow”.
The sit-in protest of the family will continue till January 5, 2022. Continue
