Nearly 10 years after former Transport Minister Arif Ahmet Denizolgun died on September 7, 2016, a significant development has emerged in the case.
As part of the investigation conducted by the Organized Crime Bureau of the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, an expert reexamined video recordings related to Denizolgun’s 2016 autopsy.
After a forensic medicine expert’s report dated August 25, 2026, classified Denizolgun’s death as a “suspicious death,” the scope of the investigation was expanded.
The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that the investigation into Alihan Kuriş and the other suspects named in the case was initially being conducted on suspicion of homicide.
The initial report classified it as a “natural death”
A report prepared by the Morgue Specialization Department of the Council of Forensic Medicine on October 17, 2016, after Denizolgun’s death, listed the cause of death as a “natural death due to cerebral hemorrhage.”
However, the reexamination of the autopsy footage as part of the new investigation years later changed the course of the case.
The expert review examined 145 photographs and video recordings from the 2016 autopsy, along with forensic medicine reports from the period, criminal investigations, crime-scene records, witness statements and other judicial documents in the investigation file.
The report stated that certain findings were identified on Denizolgun’s body that may have occurred before his death. The review concluded that the death should consequently be classified as “suspicious.”
The autopsy video said not to exist was found
One of the most notable developments in the investigation concerned the autopsy video recordings.
The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office said it requested the autopsy video from the Council of Forensic Medicine on February 24, June 1 and July 14, 2026.
The Council responded that the recording could not be found. However, on August 18, 2026, it stated that the video existed and sent the recording to the prosecutor’s office.
The Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that an investigation into the relevant Council of Forensic Medicine administrator for “forgery of official documents” was continuing as an initial step because of this process.
Doctors who signed the report classifying Denizolgun’s death in 2016 as a “natural death due to cerebral hemorrhage” are also being investigated under the same offense.
His grave was also opened
As part of the investigation, Denizolgun’s grave at Istanbul’s Karacaahmet Cemetery was opened on August 19, 2026.
Following the exhumation, the samples collected and the previous autopsy records were subjected to new examinations. The stated aim of the investigation is to establish all aspects of Denizolgun’s actual cause and manner of death.
The investigation into Alihan Kuriş continues
Following the latest expert report, the opening of a homicide investigation into Alihan Kuriş and the other suspects became one of the most significant developments in the case to date.
At this stage, however, the expert report’s finding of a “suspicious death” does not mean that a court has definitively determined that Denizolgun was killed or that the people under investigation committed the offense.
While the prosecutorial investigation continues, the results of judicial and criminal examinations aimed at definitively establishing the cause of Denizolgun’s death are awaited.
