ANKARA, Sept 8, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The body of an eight-year-old girl who had 
been missing in Turkey for 19 days has been found after an enormous manhunt, 
the interior minister said on Sunday.

The body of Narin Guran was found in a bag in a river in the southeastern 
province of Diyarbakir, around one kilometre from the village where she lived 
with her family, Diyarbakir governor Murat Zorluoglu told reporters.

"Unfortunately, the lifeless body of Narin, who went missing in the village 
of Tavsantepe... has been found," Turkish interior minister Ali Yerlikaya 
wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

She disappeared on August 21, sparking a huge search effort in Turkey, with a 
number of well-known figures joining a social media campaign called "Find 
Narin".

"Narin Guran was found dead wearing the same clothes as the last time she was 
seen," said Zorluoglu.

"Based on the first observations, she was put into a bag after she was 
killed. The bag was then placed in the river, hidden under branches and rocks 
so as not to raise suspicion," he added.

Diyarbakir prosecutors have detained 21 people, said Justice Minister Yilmaz 
Tunc.

The girl's uncle was arrested last week on suspicion of murder and 
"deprivation of liberty".

"Our president Recep Tayyip Erdogan is following the case closely to 
guarantee that the ongoing investigation continues thoroughly and that those 
who took Narin's life answer before the law," the president's communications 
director Fahrettin Altun said on X.

Turkey's pro-Kurdish party DEM has called for a march to take place in 
Diyarbakir on Sunday evening.

"Narin was killed in an organised manner. Those responsible for this murder, 
which has saddened us all, must be revealed and held accountable before an 
impartial and independent justice system," DEM wrote on X.

Tunc said on X that "those responsible for Narin's death will be brought to 
justice".