Inside the mystery of ‘Turkey’s Nicola Bulley’ who vanished on dog walk while living dream retirement with British wife

DEVOTED Angela Berzeg was enjoying a dream retirement with her wealthy husband after his brilliant career as a top international economist.

The couple had bought a £1million villa on an idyllic Turkish island and had another rustic holiday retreat from where they enjoyed scenic forest hikes.

Angela, 80, and happy, healthy Korhan, 83, were reaping the fruits of his stellar career working for the Saudi and US governments, top banks and Istanbul University.

But everything changed on the morning of Saturday, June 17.

It was on that otherwise normal day that Korhan — a man with many friends and seemingly no enemies — vanished off the face of the Earth.

He had headed out on his morning walk with his faithful three-year-old doberman pinscher Tina and adopted stray dog Esmeralda.

But he never came home. Only Esmerelda showed up, all alone, some 20 minutes after they set off.

The case is chillingly reminiscent of the disappearance of Nicola Bulley, 45, as she walked her dog in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancs, earlier this year.

A massive police search by more than 300 Turkish officers was launched for Korhan, backed by drones and dog teams. But there has been no trace of either the economics guru — nor Tina — since.

And mystery deepened over Korhan’s baffling disappearance as the powerful government associations of his past fuelled a host of dark conspiracy theories and kidnap fears.

In an anguished appeal for help finding her beloved husband, Angela, of Blandford, Dorset, said: “It is with a heavy heart and a growing sense of desperation that I implore each and every one reading this to lend your support in any way possible.

‘Never give up hope’

“If anyone has even the slightest inkling of information — if you have seen or heard anything that could shed light on my husband’s disappearance — I beg you to come forward.

“No detail is too small, every piece of information could hold the key to unravelling this bewildering mystery and restoring hope to our shattered lives. This past month has been an agonising journey of uncertainty and fear as we try to unravel the mystery that has befallen us.

“We are left with countless unanswered questions and the weight of not knowing is unbearable.”

In a direct appeal to her husband, she added: “Korhan, if you can hear my plea, know that your absence is felt deeply by all who love you. We will never stop searching, and we will never give up hope.”

Korhan’s daughter Nisa, 50, of Shepherd’s Bush, West London, told how loved ones are distraught and baffled by her dad’s disappearance.

She said: “None of it makes sense. My dad went off on his regular morning walk and never came back.

“He was happy, carefree and healthy and loved his daily walks up hillside trails so much. He was as fit as a flea and a real mountain goat.

“But that day last month, Esmerelda came back after 20 minutes alone and nothing has been found of my dad or Tina since.

“It’s incredible that nothing — no clothing, a shoe, his glasses, a dog collar, nothing — has turned up.

“The police have worked incredibly hard with teams of tracker and cadaver dogs and drones covering hundreds of square kilometres around the whole area.

“But after more than a month they have not unearthed a single clue.

“Police backed by commando units have scoured his route, as have searchers who know every inch of the area. And as time has gone on with no news, we have found ourselves concocting theories.

“It’s upsetting to think of it but perhaps my dad and Tina have been taken somewhere by someone and that someone may have harmed them.

“But why? Why would anyone hurt my elderly father years after his retirement? It just doesn’t add up.

“Our concern is that this is a case more complicated than just someone missing in the woods.”

Grandad-of-three Korhan and Angela loved life on the isle of Buyukada, off Istanbul, but were at their more modest rural retreat in the Marmara region when he vanished.

He had headed out the door after breakfast at 8.30am for his regular, brisk, 40-minute stroll around a hilly forest trail near Armutlu Koyu with the dogs off the leash at his heels.

His disappearance near Gönen, in western Turkey, echoes the UK case of tragic Nicola, whose mobile was found still connected to a call. But her pet, Willow, turned up unharmed on the day she went missing in January. Her body was found in the river three weeks later, a mile from where she vanished. A coroner has ruled she drowned by accident.

 Korhan’s beloved pooch Tina has become central to the Turkish hunt.

Frantic Nisa, who has been out with sister Sibel, 56, conducting their own search of the forest route while calling their father’s name, said: “Tina’s disappearance has added to our concerns for our father.

“She wasn’t an aggressive dog but she was loyal and would probably have stayed with him if he’d had a fall or an accident. And that would have made him easier to find.

“Anyone who approached him meaning to harm him would have assumed his dog might protect him — and if Tina was unharmed, she would have been found by now.

“So that’s led us to believe they may have both been taken somewhere.

“Esmeralda came back only about 20 minutes after my dad set off, which suggests they had not walked far before becoming separated.

“But why didn’t she vanish too? Parts of the track they were on is wide enough for a vehicle, which could have been used to take them away.

“But yet again we ask ourselves who might do this — and why?” Police and army search teams working round the clock have now combed more than 200 square kilometres (77 sq miles) using specialist technology including infrared cameras.

The only ravine where the sprightly grandad could possibly have fallen has been examined countless times.

Turkish dog trainer Göktan Eker — a former police officer and trainer of military and cop dogs — said he believed Tina’s disappearance added to criminal fears.

Eker, whose team of three search hounds have found nothing, said dobermans are highly intelligent, naturally protective and never leave their owner’s side, especially if they are injured.

He added: “What has interested me since the beginning of the incident is that the dog is also missing.

“It doesn’t make sense that they disappeared together. When a dog is lost in nature, it has a much better chance of survival than a human.

“Tina would not have easily abandoned her owner and, if she had, we would have found her. This situation arouses criminal suspicion.”

Korhan’s family have found themselves delving into his past for any clues which may help them solve the harrowing mystery.

‘Darkest theories’

The brilliant scholar was born in Turkey but moved to the US after landing a place at a top high school, before studying economics at prestige universities Berkeley and Georgetown.

He became a US citizen and went on to work for the World Bank in Washington, where he met and married Angela. More important posts followed as he scaled the career ladder, working for the US government in Saudi Arabia in the 1980s.

He later switched to a high-powered role with the Joint Commission On Economic Coop- eration in capital Riyadh, advising the Saudis on how to shape their booming oil economy.

He went on to take a job working directly for the Saudi government for three years, before moving back to the US.

Korhan, a regular TV pundit, later lectured at Istanbul University while working at Alfa Menkul investment bank as chief economist until it went bust in 2005.

It is his Saudi connections which have stirred up the darkest theories troubling his family as police continue to draw a blank.

In 2018, outspoken Saudi critic Jamal Khashoggi vanished without trace at the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Turkey. The dissident journalist was lured there to collect marriage documents and ambushed by a 15-strong Saudi hit team, which tortured him to death and dismembered him.

He was captured on CCTV entering — but not leaving — the building in Istanbul and no trace of him has ever been found.

Horrific recordings were later reported to have emerged from inside the bugged building which captured him being cut to pieces with a bone saw while still alive.

 Saudi’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman was alleged to have conspired to kill Jamal. He denied involvement.

A US judge dismissed a lawsuit containing the claim, saying the prince was entitled to “sovereign immunity”. Anguished Nisa said: “We have naturally found ourselves looking at any possible link to the Saudis.

“We understand why people might consider that after the Khashoggi case. But if they had any reason to harm him, it was something we were totally unaware of.

“My father was an eminent economist who worked for the Saudis years ago, but was not an outspoken critic like Khashoggi.

“It’s just another side to this case which is leading to more unanswered questions and all the time we can do nothing but wait for answers.”

• Korhan’s family have appealed for anyone with information to contact authorities or to get in touch with them directly by searching Facebook for their page, Missing in Turkey – Korhan Berzeg.