Retired Lieutenant General Ethem Büyükışık conducted a private investigation to prove his son, Dorukhan Büyükışık, was murdered [1].
The case highlights the persistence of a grieving parent against official rulings and the complexities of the Turkish legal system regarding suspicious deaths.
Dorukhan Büyükışık died on May 13, 2018 [1], in the Narlıdere district of İzmir [1]. Following the death, official investigations ruled the incident a suicide. Ethem Büyükışık, a former "Bordo Bereli" or Maroon Beret special forces officer, refused to accept the verdict [1].
Büyükışık spent eight years acting as a detective to uncover the evidence necessary to challenge the suicide ruling [1]. He said he detailed the process of his investigation and how the secrets of the case were eventually revealed during a recent appearance on NTV [1].
The investigation focused on the events surrounding the single victim [1]. By utilizing his military background and investigative techniques, Büyükışık sought to provide the legal system with a different narrative of the events that occurred in 2018 [1].
His efforts culminated in a public recounting of the evidence and the steps taken to secure justice for his son [1]. The transition from a suicide verdict to a murder investigation marks a significant shift in the legal status of the case [1].
“Retired Lieutenant General Ethem Büyükışık conducted a private investigation to prove his son was murdered.”
This case underscores the tension between official state findings and private investigations. The fact that a high-ranking retired military official had to spend nearly a decade gathering evidence to overturn a suicide ruling suggests significant gaps in the initial forensic or investigative process conducted by local authorities in İzmir.
