The Department of Unsolved Crimes Research, established on the instructions of Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, began reexamining cases that had remained on the shelves for years or had been closed without prosecution, using up-to-date technological methods and a team of experts.
Forty-six separate cases in which the examinations had been completed and concrete evidence had been obtained were referred to the relevant chief public prosecutors' offices. The murders of 52 victims in these cases were solved.
Hitman brought from Germany arrested 15 years later
In the case concerning the 2011 killing of Felemez K. in Muş's Hasköy district, investigators determined that the murder had been committed over a blood feud dating back to 1988. HTS, PTS and narrowed cell-tower analyses established that the feuding family had brought E. S., a suspect, from Germany to carry out the killing, that reconnaissance had been conducted in the area before the murder and that the suspect had fled abroad afterward.
The investigation established that, to avoid attracting attention, the suspects had gone to a police station and given statements before the incident came to the attention of law enforcement. In a simultaneous operation conducted on September 11, 2026, E. S. and 10 others accompanying the suspect were detained.
DNA and cigarette traces guided investigations
The Department of Unsolved Crimes Research reassessed digital and biological evidence in work conducted in coordination with the Council of Forensic Medicine and forensic laboratories. The examinations used DNA samples, cigarette butts, vehicle parts and various records.
In three separate murders committed in Antalya's Korkuteli and Elmalı districts in 2011 and 2012, DNA samples taken from beneath Havva Y.'s fingernails matched S. K. and Y. K. The two suspects brought before the court were arrested.
The case of shepherd Mehmet Emin K., who was killed in Diyarbakır's Çermik district in 2016, was also solved through a molecular genetic examination of four cigarette butts found at the scene. Following the DNA match, arrest warrants were issued for five suspects.
Vehicle parts and missing-person cases examined
In the incident in Bursa's Mustafakemalpaşa district in which Medine K. lost her life, six small headlight fragments found at the scene were matched with PTS records. The suspect was identified after later reports of paintwork and repairs were cross-referenced with those records.
In the case of Dilek K., who went missing in Diyarbakır's Bismil district in 2013, 144 missing-women cases in the area were screened. The similarity of clothing found on bones recovered from a streambed was examined, and a DNA test using a sample taken from her mother showed a 99.99 percent match. The bones were conclusively identified as belonging to Dilek K., and the murder case was reopened.
Investigators jointly assessed HTS records, data analyses, narrowed cell-tower studies, Council of Forensic Medicine reports, hospital examination records, medication information, statements from witnesses and people with knowledge of the matter, and other documents and information obtained through field inquiries. As a result of this work, apprehension warrants were issued for seven suspects.
The Department of Unsolved Crimes Research continues examining other pending cases in coordination with the relevant chief public prosecutors' offices.
