Unsolved Murder, Unresolved Justice

15/07/2026

Unsolved murders remain one of the many unhealed wounds in Turkey’s collective memory. Unsubsiding pain, unanswered questions, and an unyielding expectation of justice … as years pass, these cases await resolution.

Every unsolved murder does not merely end a human life. It simultaneously wounds a family’s future, society’s sense of security, and the public’s faith in state justice. Countless deaths, interrupted lives, and unanswered questions are either forgotten or deliberately left to be forgotten on the dusty shelves of courthouse corridors.

The most critical questions that must be asked here are: “Who is being protected?” and “Why can the perpetrator of an unsolved crime not be uncovered for years?” These questions belong not only to the grieving families but to anyone who has a conscience.

The Turkish Minister of Justice Akın Gürlek recently established the Department for the Investigation of Unsolved Crimes and announced that the murder of Mehmet Emin Karaalp, shot and killed in the Çermik district of Diyarbakır on 18 April 2016, was re-examined and solved 10 years later, resulting in the detention of eight individuals connected to the crime.

The Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia regions, in particular, have been associated with unsolved murders, called Faili Meçhul in Turkish, for decades. According to data compiled and shared through the efforts of various non-governmental organizations and human rights defenders, some 60 unsolved, unsolved murder cases targeting the Syriac community have been registered since 1985. Despite the passage of decades, most of these files remain unsolved.

Regrettably, these tragedies are not confined to the past. In 2020, the Chaldean couple Hurmüz and Shmuni Diril disappeared in Kovankaya, a village in the Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak known in Syriac as Mehre. After 70 days, Shmuni Diril’s tortured body was found by her children in a local stream. Six years after the incident, the fate of Hurmüz Diril remains unknown. The ordeal of this Chaldean couple resonated deeply not only within the Syriac community but also in Turkish and international public opinion. Despite six years having passed, however, the murder case has still not been concluded in a manner that satisfies the conscience of society.

Similarly, in 2021, Gevriye Sarı, a resident of Badıbe (Dibek) village in the Nusaybin District of Mardin, was shot and killed in his home. This murder vividly reminded the Syriac community of the unsolved crimes of the 1990s. His family awaited justice, and the community demanded the revelation of the truth. So far, again, no conclusion has been presented that can reassure the public conscience that the case has been fully investigated.

In 2023, 93-year-old Gevriye Akgüç was shot and killed in his home, this time in the village of Enhil (Yemişli) in the Midyat District of Mardin. The perpetrator who killed Akgüç fled immediately and was never “found.” The “death” of an individual who, despite his advanced age, continued to live in his ancestral homeland, was the next in a long series of questions awaiting answers.

These killings are not merely individual, unsolved murder cases. Each has become a symbol of a years-long pursuit of justice. As time passes and murders remain unsolved, evidence disappears and society’s trust in the law also erodes.

The true cause for concern, however, is the silence. As the files waiting on shelves increase each year, those who remain silent also increase. Yet, the duty of justice is not to keep files waiting, but to uncover the truth. Every case left unanswered damages the trust placed in the state, not only by the victimized families but by society as a whole.

Delayed justice punishes not only the victims but all of society. The strength of a state governed by the rule of law is measured not only by its punishment of criminals, but by its resolve to solve even the most difficult cases. Every murder case that remains unsolved is a heavy responsibility carried on the shoulders of the state.

Today, the question asked should not just be “who killed?” The real question must be, “why have the killers still not been found?” The passing years do not eliminate the demand for justice, because justice has no statute of limitations. The public’s conscience does not expect unsolved files to be forgotten on dusty shelves; it awaits the revelation of the truth.

Unsolved files are not merely dark pages of the past; as long as they remain unresolved, they continue to be a legal problem of the present. Unless the truth is uncovered, rumors grow, trust diminishes, and the sense of justice is damaged a little more each day.

Every unsolved case still awaiting an answer today is a legal test, not just of the past, but of the present. And the only way to pass this test successfully is to uncover those responsible, regardless of who they are or what position they hold, and to ensure that justice is fully served.

While the state expects its citizens to trust the law, citizens expect the state to resolutely investigate these cases that have remained unanswered for years. Justice does not solely consist of verdicts delivered in courtrooms. It is achieved through the revelation of the truth and the reassurance of the conscience of society.

What makes a state strong is not the abundance of its unsolved cases, but its political will to resolve them. For every murder that remains a mystery is a loss not only for an individual, but for justice itself.

The questions now are: “Will the Department for the Investigation of Unsolved Crimes also examine the unsolved Syriac cases? Will the unsolved murders of Syriacs be brought to light? Will the Diril family and the children of other Syriac victims finally attain justice?”

The views expressed in this op-ed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of SyriacPress.