Background
Güneş Yıldıztan was a mother of four living in the Darıca district of Kocaeli, Turkey. According to accounts reported by the press, her marriage had broken down by late 2017. In December of that year she went to the police and said her husband had been violent toward her and that her life was in danger.
According to reports, her husband had filed for divorce on grounds of adultery on 20 December 2017, shortly before she disappeared; the date drew attention at trial because it sheds light on the family circumstances.
What happened
Press reports say that in December 2017 she left home with a man described as her boyfriend. A few days later she went to a police station in Darıca to file a complaint and was placed in a women's shelter. She later left the shelter of her own will. After around 30 December 2017 nobody heard from her again.
For years her disappearance remained a missing-person file. Her husband continued the divorce case he had filed on 20 December 2017, and the divorce became final in 2019 without her ever attending a hearing.
The content of the anonymous tip was not disclosed in detail. Of the 26 people detained, only some were tried in custody, and insufficient evidence proved decisive. The dissenting opinion is notable because it shows the evidence could be read differently.
Investigation and trial
The file was reopened in February 2024 after an anonymous tip reached the Kocaeli police homicide bureau. After months of surveillance and technical work, 26 people were detained. Prosecutors alleged that Yıldıztan had been killed on the decision of a so-called "family council" and indicted 11 people, including her former husband, seeking aggravated life sentences. Two defendants were tried in custody.
In July 2026 the Kocaeli 8th High Criminal Court acquitted all 11 defendants for lack of sufficient evidence. The decision was by majority; one panel member wrote a dissenting opinion saying some defendants should have been convicted. We could not confirm whether the verdict has been appealed.
What happened to Güneş Yıldıztan has therefore not been established in law, and her remains have not been found. Her case is cited in debates over protecting women who report violence and over how slowly missing-women files are sometimes pursued. Those acquitted are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
The indictment alleged that she was killed on 30 December 2017, that three men carried it out and that other elders of the family made the decision. These remain allegations that the court did not find proven.