“The incident was not accidental, but a deliberate fall” “Attempt to retrieve data before the upcoming hearing date”

In a development that reopens one of Turkey’s most mysterious cases, investigators, in cooperation with digital technology experts, have begun new attempts to recover messages from the phone of late Turkish beauty queen and model Asli Bas, who died in 2010 under controversial circumstances. The move aims to uncover the truth behind what happened after many years.

Asli Bas was a prominent figure in the beauty world, having won a beauty pageant title for models in 2003, before her life tragically ended after she fell from the balcony of businessman Ahmed Bayer’s home in the tourist area of Bodrum in Mugla province.

A trial that lasted 11 years Although the case underwent an 11-year trial that concluded there was no criminal suspicion in her death, the family was not convinced. Her father, Mehmet Yavuz Bas, insists that what happened was not an accident but a deliberate fall, claiming that key evidence was intentionally concealed at the time.

In August last year, a higher appeals court reopened the case in response to the family’s doubts, especially after the businessman and his sons were acquitted in 2020. The court decided to proceed with new measures, most notably attempting to recover deleted messages from the victim’s phone, which are believed to hold crucial clues.

The phone has been sent to Istanbul, where specialists are working to retrieve the data before the next hearing scheduled for early June, amid questions about whether the messages can be recovered after all these years and whether international expertise may be sought, as in similar cases.

Reviewing additional details The victim’s father stated that the new investigations go beyond technical aspects, including reviewing issues such as the removal of surveillance cameras at the scene and hearing witnesses who were not called during the previous trial, according to the Ihlas News Agency.

He also cited physics experts’ reports suggesting that the manner of the fall does not align with a natural fall from a balcony, reinforcing suspicions of foul play, while firmly rejecting the possibility of suicide.

In a related context, the father believes that the delay in calling an ambulance on the day of the incident was intentional, aimed at ensuring his daughter’s death. However, these claims remain unproven legally, pending what the renewed investigations may reveal.