Per archives of the Human Rights Division of the İstanbul Bar Association, 25-year-old İsmail Bahçeci, the eldest of four children was born in Urfa’s Siverek town. The family moved to İstanbul in 1979; at the time of his disappearance, İsmail was studying at the Communications Department of Marmara University,very active in several student associations of the university.

Between 1991 and1994 his family’s house was raided by the police several times. İsmail moved out from the family home to an apartment in the Levent neighborhood of İstanbul as the police was looking for him. On 24th December 1994, a woman called the family’s house and told them that İsmail had been taken into custody.The next day his father went to the Gayrettepe Police Headquarters and the İstanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office to find out what had happened to no avail.His brother on the other hand, learned that İsmail was under torture in Ankara, via someone who had been released from the same location shortly before.

Following 24th December 1994, the police raids to his parental house stopped. In early 2012, following the mediatized confessions of former Police Special Operations member Ayhan Çarkın, İsmail Bahçeci’s brother filed a complaint about his disappearance – again, to no avail.

İsmail has not been heard from again, nor has his bodily remains been found.