British mother’s fight for justice after her daughter, 26, is found dead in Turkey

The British mother of a 26-year-old woman found dead in Turkey, whose death was ruled a suicide under suspicious circumstances, claims she was denied access to her daughter’s personal belongings and suicide note.

Ayse Rhiannon Vural’s body was discovered in her Istanbul apartment in September 2020, after she suffered a single gunshot wound to the head.

Judges closed the case in March 2022, ruling that Ayse committed suicide and there was no evidence to suggest otherwise.

But heartbroken mother Tracie Brookes has raised serious questions about the investigation into her daughter’s death, claiming she was threatened with death and brutally beaten by her ex-boyfriend’s brother in the weeks before she died.

“My heart is broken and I can’t get answers,” said Tracie, who recently returned to England after flying to Istanbul in a failed attempt to recover her daughter’s personal items, including the alleged suicide note, from authorities .

Turkish judges refused to hand over the items and Tracie will have to return to Istanbul again if she hopes to secure another trial.

Ayse – whose father is Turkish – left England for Istanbul in 2019 to look for work and started teaching English.

But on September 11, 2020, local police reportedly found her dead in her flat in Turkey’s largest city.

Ayse had been shot in the head and a gun was found next to her.

Investigators stated that they also found a suicide note and traces of gunpowder on her hand, indicating she had pulled the trigger.

But Mum Tracie says she was never allowed to see the note and she doesn’t know why Turkish authorities wouldn’t show her evidence of her daughter’s alleged suicide.

“I can’t see the note because the court won’t give me the note. If Ayse wrote it… Did she write it? Is it her handwriting?’

Tracie was told she would have to arrange another court hearing to get her hands on the note, and she’s gradually pieced together bits of her daughter’s life that she says just don’t fit with the findings of the official investigation .

Tracie went on to explain that her daughter had been dating a man named Ferhat, and spent what little money she had on him and his family.

During a trip back to England to visit her mother and other relatives, Ayse revealed that she was in love with Ferhat and was planning a future with him.

But Tracie said, “He dumped her. He dropped her. He didn’t want to know her anymore and she was really upset.

“And so there were many quarrels between them, big quarrels, she said, and Mahmut, Ferhat’s brother whom she dated, threatened to kill her if she came back to Turkey.

“He told her to go home and never come back to Istanbul.”

Tracie claimed that when her daughter returned to Turkey, Mahmut kept his promise and attacked her in broad daylight, sustaining significant injuries.

She said, “Somehow Mahmut saw Ayse on the street in Istanbul and he beat her up badly.”

Ayse was left with blood and bruises all over her face and went to the police, but Mahmut threatened to kill her and again ordered his brother’s former flame to leave Istanbul, Tracie claims.

“I don’t know what went wrong, but that was that. And then she died. And so there was a gun involved,” Tracie said.

‘We are from England. We don’t know weapons. We have no guns in England.

“Ayse knows nothing about guns. But someone gave her a gun. Whether they told her to shoot herself or they shot her…

“The court verdict said it was suicide, there was gunpowder residue on her hand, so the prosecutor’s office said Ayse killed herself.

“But I wonder, was anyone there? Was someone there to tell her to do it? I do not understand.’

The shady case has apparently also been investigated by Interpol, as the weapon used to kill Ayse was allegedly used in other cases under investigation by Turkish authorities.

Tracie added, “I think Interpol got involved because this weapon was a hot gun.”

She explained that it had “been used in crimes before, not with Ayse, but someone had used that gun and given it to her and then she used it.”

“I wasn’t allowed to have her belongings. We have a list of items that Ayse had in her room, in her apartment where she died. It didn’t say much,” Tracie said.

There were no clothes in Ayse’s apartment, and a Disney Thumper plush toy, which Tracie said her daughter had cherished since childhood and featured in several photos of her, was also missing.

“She took that bunny everywhere she went. It’s not on the list.’

Tracie is now pushing for a new court date in renewed attempts to access her daughter’s personal items.