The Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office announced that the investigation into the death of former Transport Minister Arif Ahmet Denizolgun, who died on September 7, 2016, is ongoing. Following a finding of “suspicious death” in an expert report from the Council of Forensic Medicine dated August 25, proceedings are being conducted against suspects, including Alihan Kuriş, for “homicide.”
The investigation also continues into the doctors who signed the October 17, 2016 report titled “Natural Death Due to Cerebral Hemorrhage,” as well as the Council of Forensic Medicine administrator who initially stated that no video recording of the autopsy existed and subsequently reported that the recording was available. It was stated that the investigation would be expanded based on the exhumation, HTS records and other evidence.
Why it matters
The scope of the investigation is not limited to the question of how the death occurred, but also includes an examination of the previous medical assessment and the administrative procedures related to the autopsy process. The case therefore requires clarification of both the suspicions surrounding Denizolgun’s death and the circumstances under which the natural death report dated October 17, 2016 was prepared. The exhumation, HTS records and other evidence will provide a basis for prosecutors to reassess the existing findings. However, the fact that proceedings are being conducted against the suspects for homicide does not mean that criminal liability has been established at this stage; the key questions left open by the investigation are whether the death was in fact natural and how the discrepancy concerning the autopsy records can be explained.