Per news articles published in the Özgür Gündem Newspaper between 22nd and 26th October 1992 and Yakay-Der records, Ayhan Efeoğlu was a sophomore at Yıldız Technical University’s Geodesy Department. On 6th October 1992, he was detained by undercover policemen in front of the university and he has never been seen or heard from again, nor have his remains ever been found.

The family searched for him everywhere. They submitted petitions to the Office of the Istanbul State Security Court Public Prosecutor as well as the Grand National Assembly of Turkey. In Human Rights Foundation of Turkey’s 1992 report, it was stated that two eye-witnesses who were detained in the same place with him had told that Ayhan had been tortured during his detention at the Gayrettepe Police Station.

There were no further developments in the investigation concerning Ayhan’s detention and disappearance. On 21st January 2008, fifteen years after the initial investigation, the case was closed due to statute of limitations.

Three years later, in 2011, in his confessions, a former Police Special Operations Department Member, provided information regarding the torture and extra juridical killing of several detainees, including Ayhan Efeoğlu. After the confessions, lawyers from the Istanbul Bar Association filed a criminal complaint and demanded reopening of Ayhan Efeoğlu’s file.

In his confessions, the former police officer stated that Ayhan Efeoğlu had been buried in an area in Çerkezköy, which used to be a military zone until 2016. An exhumation was conducted in the area. Four bones and some remains of clothes found in the area were submitted to the Office of the Public Prosecutor for further analysis. Also, another investigation into Ayhan’s disappearance was opened. Hafıza Merkezi does not hold further information regarding the progress of the case.