The statement of doctor Nurettin Demirkol, who was arrested within the scope of the investigation into the death of former Minister of Transport Arif Ahmet Denizolgun, was revealed at the Criminal Court of Peace.
In his first statement as a witness on August 26, 2026, Demirkol said that he did not know who called the medical and law enforcement teams, that Denizolgun was not a private doctor, and that he did not consider the death suspicious. However, in the 155 Emergency Call resolution report prepared by the Riva Police Station, it was determined that the report was made over the phone used by Demirkol, the caller introduced himself as the family doctor and said that the death was suspicious.
Asked about this contradiction, Demirkol said, "I don't remember whether I called or someone else called on the day of the incident. Someone else may have called from my phone." The prosecutor's office also asked Demirkol why he did not remember whether he made the first report, even though he remembered meeting the police several times on the day of the incident. Demirkol said that he had difficulty even remembering the patients he had recently cared for and said, "Approximately 10 years have passed since the incident." Demirkol also said that he "left his phone lying around" at the scene, and that one of the people coming and going to the farm might have made a report on his phone.
IT WAS DETECTED THAT HE INTRODUCED AS 'FAMILY DOCTOR'
On the other hand, it was determined that there was a contradiction in Demirkol's statements regarding the doctor-patient relationship with Denizolgun. It was determined that Demirkol had previously said 'I was not his private doctor' and in the statements of the police and crime scene investigators who went to the scene, there were records indicating that there was a person who introduced himself as a 'family doctor' at the scene.
When asked about this situation, Demirkol said, "I examined the victim 2-3 times. However, I do not know how to become a family doctor. I do not know what is meant by this expression."
The prosecutor's office determined that the location information in Demirkol's first statement did not match the HTS records. In his statement on August 26, Demirkol said that he was at his residence in Kısıklı on the day of the incident. However, during the prosecutor's interrogation, he was told that there was no base record in the Kısıklı region between 6 September 2016 at 18.12 and 8 September 2016 at 17.46. When asked about this issue, Demirkol said, "It is not possible for me not to have a base record for two days. I was at my residence that day. I do not know why the base records appeared this way."
"I DON'T REMEMBER MY INTERVIEWS"
The prosecutor's office also stated that Demirkol said that Denizolgun had already died when he went to the scene, but HTS records showed that he made consecutive calls to the phone registered to Hisar Hospital between 21.16 and 21.42 on September 7, 2016. Asked about the reason for the meetings, Demirkol said, "I do not remember the meetings I had that day."
"I DON'T REMEMBER IF I TALKED OR NOT"
In Demirkol's first statement, he said that Murat Bayrak and a foreign national were present when he went to the farm; However, it was revealed that the crime scene investigation report in the investigation file included a record that Hilmi Tuna Kuriş was also at the scene, and in the HTS investigation, it was determined that Kuriş had left the area where the farm was located at 20.56 on September 7, 2016.
The prosecutor's office also determined that there were records of consecutive calls and calls between Demirkol and Hilmi Tuna Kuriş on the same night at 21.13 and onwards. Asked about these records, Demirkol said, "I don't remember whether I talked to Hilmi Tuna Kuriş that day. I don't know if he was there when I went."
When Demirkol was asked whether Ahmet Yum, Ahmet Gökçen and Alihan Kuriş came to the scene, another witness in the file stated that the forensic doctor who came to the scene said that there was a lawyer with the doctor and that Alihan Kuriş was at the scene.
When asked whether there was a phone call recorded between Demirkol and Ahmet Yum on the morning of September 8, 2016, Demirkol said that he did not remember whether these people came to the scene and why he met with Ahmet Yum.
