Background
Rıdvan Özden was a colonel who held the post of Mardin Gendarmerie Regiment (Provincial) Commander in the mid-1990s. Mardin and its surroundings were among the areas where armed clashes and numerous killings recorded as unsolved took place in those years.
What happened
According to official records, Özden died on 14 August 1995 in the countryside of Ormancık village in Mardin's Savur district, together with two bodyguards, in fire opened by PKK militants. In a 2008 briefing the General Staff also said Özden had fought at the front line in the clash. He was buried at Edirnekapı Martyrs' Cemetery in Istanbul.
For years after his death his family asked questions that fell outside the official statements. These resurfaced in the press from 2008, alongside the wider debate on 'unsolved killings'.
Investigation and legal proceedings
Early handling was local: according to reports the Savur Chief Public Prosecutor's Office declared itself not competent on 2 July 1996 and sent the file to the Diyarbakır State Security Court prosecutor.
In 2008 a tip-off letter reaching prosecutors claimed that Özden had objected to a group known as 'Bıçak' and that his death might be linked to this. These claims have not been verified. The Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office had also sent a copy of the file to the Ergenekon trial.
In 2012 an Istanbul prosecutor ordered the grave to be opened to investigate the circumstances of the death, and the remains were taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute. According to the family's lawyer, the report indicated the bullet entered through the top of the head rather than the forehead; the family and their lawyers found the report inadequate and objected.
The file was not concluded in later years. According to reports, the investigation lapsed in 2025 because the 30-year limitation period expired; this comes from a single source and should be checked against official documents.
His wife, Tomris Özden, said that the file was sent to a special-authority prosecutor's office in Istanbul after some seventeen years. The incident mentioned in the tip-off letter was the killing of four teachers on the Pınardere road in Savur on 5 November 1994; the letter claimed that Özden had held a meeting about it. This remains an allegation.
Where it stands today
Özden's death is listed among cases where the official account and the family's questions diverge. Claims about the circumstances of his death have not been proven in court, while the official statement describes him as killed in an armed attack. The case is archived both as a commemoration and because of unanswered questions.
Questioning the circumstances of an officer's death, publicly remembered as a 'martyr', is a sensitive matter. This article therefore sticks to official records and to concrete steps taken by the family and prosecutors; unverified claims appear only as claims.