How did Turgay Tamer, the prison doctor in the Kozinoğlu investigation, die, and what is his link to Kurtlar Vadisi?

27 September 2026 — One of the suspects in the Kaşif Kozinoğlu investigation has died. According to an exclusive report by Müslim Sarıyar in the newspaper Nefes, published at 16.43, Turgay Tamer, who was the campus doctor at Silivri Prison while Kozinoğlu was held there in 2011, was found dead at his home in Büyükçekmece, Istanbul. Earlier this month Tamer had been detained by the gendarmerie in the investigation and released a few days later. The news spread quickly: Gazete Oksijen published at 16.51, Takvim at 17.41, Son Dakika at 17.45, Cumhuriyet at 17.46, Medyascope at 17.58, NTV (citing DHA) at 17.59, TGRT Haber at 18.00 and Türkiye newspaper at 18.04. No cause of death has been announced; an autopsy is pending.

What is known about the death?

According to Nefes, Tamer's wife had gone abroad for a few days; returning "yesterday evening" — by the report's date, the evening of 26 September — she entered the living room and found him motionless. Teams were sent to the address after the call. Nefes wrote that "no suspicious circumstance was found in the initial examination", that Tamer was understood to be diabetic, and that the body was sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute to establish the exact cause of death. Here the sources diverge: Türkiye newspaper wrote that an investigation had been opened into a death "considered suspicious"; Takvim reported that the death was "considered suspicious" and that an inquiry into the incident had begun, and added that Tamer was found dead "today" and that no official statement on the cause had yet been made. Both accounts can be true at once — an initial examination finding nothing does not contradict a death being made the subject of an investigation — but the sources do not explain what the phrase "considered suspicious" rests on. The one certainty: the cause of death will be determined by the autopsy.

Who was Turgay Tamer?

The first reports described him as a "forensic medicine man" (the Nefes headline), a "former Forensic Medicine employee" (Oksijen, Medyascope) and a "former forensic doctor" (Takvim, NTV). The Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office corrected this the same evening. As relayed by TGRT Haber, Türkiye newspaper and Son Dakika, the office stated that, "contrary to some information in the public domain", Tamer was not a forensic doctor, that he served as the campus doctor at the prison while Kozinoğlu was held there, and that he did not intervene with Kozinoğlu in any way; it also said Tamer had been unable to practise medicine for some time due to health problems. NTV's DHA-based report added a detail: the deterioration in Kozinoğlu's health had not been reported to Tamer, and so he had not administered any medical treatment. The verbatim text of the prosecutor's statement does not appear in the sources reviewed; the wording here is the newspapers' rendering.

How did the headlines change?

In this case the descriptions shifted within hours, and the difference matters. "Forensic medicine man" or "forensic doctor" gives the reader the impression of someone working at the institution that determined Kozinoğlu's cause of death in 2011 — which is exactly what the prosecutor denied. Cumhuriyet's article address still says "former Forensic Medicine employee", while its headline was updated to "Prison doctor Turgay Tamer". When first read for this file, Takvim's page title was "The suspicious death of former forensic doctor Turgay Tamer!"; on a later reading the same page carried two different headlines at once: the one shown to readers, "The mystery death of doctor Turgay Tamer in the Kozinoğlu file!", and the one given to search engines, "prison doctor Turgay Tamer found dead at home". The "forensic medicine man" wording in the Nefes headline had not changed when this file was written. This file follows the prosecutor's description: campus doctor.

What was his place in the investigation?

Tamer was one of nine people detained in the investigation's second wave; in the same wave journalist Selahattin Günday and health workers Özlem Uslu Öz and Emre Atmaca were remanded in custody. The dates vary by source: Nefes, Cumhuriyet and Oksijen wrote that Tamer was detained on 10 September, and Nefes and Oksijen that he was released on 14 September; Takvim said the second operation took place on 13 September, and TGRT Haber that the release came on 13 September. The nature of his release was also reported differently: Nefes said only "released"; according to NTV/DHA and Takvim he was placed under judicial control with a travel ban in connection with the charges of "membership of an organisation" and "intentional killing", and according to TGRT with a travel ban and a reporting obligation. There was no indictment or trial against Tamer; judicial control is a precautionary measure and does not mean guilt was established.

What is his link to Kurtlar Vadisi?

None of the sources reviewed mention any connection between Turgay Tamer and the series or its producers. The link is the investigation itself: Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu is under examination by the prosecutor because of the "Kazım Kaşifoğlu" character, said to have been inspired by Kozinoğlu. Screenwriters Raci Şaşmaz, Bahadır Özdener and Cüneyt Aysan gave statements as witnesses; an expert review of episodes was ordered; actors Sedat Savtak and Emin Olcay were heard; and on 23 September Bayram Özbek, "found to have been involved in the screenplay", was remanded. The same NTV/DHA report that carried the Tamer news disclosed a new development: Pana Film director İhsan Karademir gave a statement as a suspect and was released under judicial control in the form of a travel ban; the date and content of the statement were not given. According to Medyascope, Pana Film also stated that Özbek never worked on "Kurtlar Vadisi" or "Kurtlar Vadisi Pusu" as a screenwriter, member of the writing team or consultant at any time. In short, the series is material under examination in the investigation; but there is no court finding on its relationship to the real events, and Tamer's death adds no new evidence to that question.

How did the investigation get here?

Kozinoğlu, held in Silivri Prison in the Odatv investigation, fell ill and died on 12 November 2011; the Silivri Chief Public Prosecutor's Office decided on 10 April 2012 that there were no grounds for prosecution. On 26 August 2026 the Silivri Criminal Judgeship of Peace lifted that decision; the file was reopened under a confidentiality order announced by Justice Minister Akın Gürlek, and an exhumation was carried out. According to the tallies by Medyascope and Oksijen, those remanded since then include Ali İşgören, the Silivri chief prosecutor at the time, prison prosecutor Necip Doğan, journalist Selahattin Günday, former journalist Osman Arslan and two health workers; Enver Altaylı, a former MİT officer convicted in FETÖ proceedings, was remanded on 22 September for "incitement to intentional killing", and Özbek on 23 September. According to Türkiye newspaper and Son Dakika, Vatan Party chairman Doğu Perinçek also gave a statement as a witness.

What happens next?

Known as of 27 September 2026: Tamer was found dead at home, the body is at the Forensic Medicine Institute, and the prosecutor has stated that he was not a forensic doctor and did not treat Kozinoğlu. Unknown: the cause of death, its exact date and time, and the scope of the investigation reportedly opened into it. Although social media is full of commentary linking the death to the investigation, the sources reviewed contain no official information to that effect, so this file draws no such link. It will be updated when the autopsy result, any prosecutor's statement on the death and details of Karademir's statement become available. For the Kozinoğlu investigation itself, the decisive documents are unchanged: the report of the Forensic Medicine Institute's 1st Specialised Board, the expert report on the series' episodes, and the indictment.