New forensic results have revived the investigation into the killing of schoolgirl Cagla Tugaltay in Istanbul 26 years ago. Police sent preserved clothing and evidence to the Forensic Medicine Institute for re-examination using newer technology.

Investigators found biological traces from a man on two parts of the shorts the victim wore: the waistband and leg. Both profiles matched male DNA recovered from beneath Tugaltay’s fingernails in 2013.

The owner of that profile has never been identified, and homicide detectives are conducting new comparisons with available samples and databases. Tugaltay, 15, was killed at her home in Sisli’s Fulya neighborhood on June 5, 2000 after returning from school.

An Istanbul court sentenced former police officer Cemil Koc to aggravated life imprisonment for the murder of 22-year-old university student Ayse Tokyaz. The court found that the killing had been premeditated and committed with cruelty against a woman.

The judgment concluded a trial involving 11 defendants, nine of whom were detained, over the July 2025 killing. Koc also received additional prison sentences for other offenses, while the case examined allegations that others helped move the body or conceal evidence.

Tokyaz's body was found inside a suitcase left beside a road in Eyupsultan. Security footage showed the defendant leaving a residence carrying the suitcase, and he acknowledged during his defense that he had placed the body inside and moved it to a vehicle.

The Council of the Greater Turkish Municipality of Gaziantep, during its July meeting, approved the decision to launch the twinning path between the city and the Palestinian city of Gaza.

According to this decision, Mayor Fatih Şahin was granted a mandate to sign the sister cities protocol between Gaziantep and Gaza City of the State of Palestine, and to follow all the official procedures necessary to complete this twinning.

Shahin, whose opinion was stated in The municipality’s statement said that Gaza is going through difficult days, stressing that this decision reflects the will of solidarity and brotherhood towards its people.