Ali Gündüz

person
Image
Image
Sex
Male
Civil status
Married
Occupation
  • Peasant
  • Village guard
Event description

Per news article published by Batman Çağdaş on 4th April 2010 and Yakay-Der’s records, the 54-year-old farmer Ali Gündüz was living in the Yüce village of Batma’s Gercüş district. On 20th September 1998, Ali left his home to go to Batman with a 17-year-old young man who claimed that he was sent by Ali’s fugitive cousin who had been in hiding due to an accusation brought against him. They went together to Ali’s friend Mustafa Kaya’s house. Then the young man, Ali, Mustafa and Mustafa’s son Fatih Kaya left the house in Mustafa Kaya’s car.

Ali Gündüz, Mehmet Kaya and Fatih Kaya have not been seen or heard from since that time, nor have their bodily remains been found.

The next day Mustafa Kaya’s abandoned car was found near the Kızıltepe district of Mardin. Mustafa’s wife, applied to the Batman Chief Public Prosecutor and the Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation. Mrs Kaya applied to the Ministry of Interior, the National Intelligence Service, Emergency Region Governor as well as the Governorship of Batman and Mardin but could not get any information regarding the whereabouts of her husband and son.

A Hezbollah militant arrested in 2000 as part of an operation targeting the organization said in his statement that he had seen Fatih Kaya and two other people being kept in the basement floor of a house used by the organization. During another operation targeting the Hezbollah, more than 800 identity cards, including those of Fatih and Mustafa Kaya, were discovered inside a house in Beykoz, İstanbul. Batman Police Department informed Kaya family that their relatives’ cards were among found but the families were afraid to pursue their search.

Geolocation

Latitude: 37.8895167

Longitude: 41.1292832

Geolocation
City
Batman
Date of disappearance
Sep 20, 1998
Year of disappearance
1998
Age at the time of disappearance
Yaş:54Ay:7Gün:5
Status of the victim
Still missing
Type of source material
  • Press release or report of human rights organisations
  • Statement by victim/complainant
Decision by the prosecution office
Decision of non-prosecution due to statute of limitations
Summary of the legal proceedings

Upon the discovery of her husband’s empty car, Mustafa Kaya’s wife submitted a petition to the Office of Batman Public Prosecutor. The Public Prosecutor opened an investigation though no action was taken.

In 2003, Ali Gündüz’s son applied to the Ankara Human Rights Directorate and requested to obtain information on his father’s whereabouts. Batman Police Headquarters took İsa Gündüz’s statement.

On 25th May 2003, the Association for Solidarity and Support for Relatives of Disappeared Persons (Yakay-Der) submitted a petition to the Office of Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor regarding disappearance of several people, including Ali Gündüz. Upon his son’s submission, İsa Gündüz was officially declared absent. As Mustafa and Fatih Kaya’s identity cards were found in the basement of a house used by Hezbollah organization, they were also declared absent. Following these declarations, investigations into their disappearances was closed.

In the investigation summary prepared by the Batman Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office (2003/4131) the three men were included among the 180 victims of unresolved murders.