The Forensic Medicine Institute (ATK) in Istanbul has delivered the remains of a young woman who lost her life in clashes with the Turkish army to her family in a cardboard box, five years after the woman’s death.
Menfiyat Elçiçek, a member of the YJA-Star, was killed in clashes in the Hakkari (Colemêrg) province in 2018. Her parents submitted DNA samples upon suspicion of her death, but were never informed of the outcome. Elçiçek was reportedly buried in an unmarked grave in Hakkari.
At an undisclosed date, the body was brought to Istanbul, where ATK officials delivered the young woman’s remains to her family in a body bag and cardboard box, Mezopotamya Agency reported on Friday.
News reports from 2018 cite the young woman’s name, saying she was identified by intelligence services via an intercepted radio communication before her death.
Elçiçek’s body was taken to the family’s hometown in Şırnak (Şirnex), where a funeral was held in a cemetery surrounded by riot police. Only close family were allowed to attend, in violation of Kurdish traditions.
Another fighter’s remains were delivered in a small tool box three years after his death in September.
In March, another mother received her daughter’s remains in a box.
Earlier in 2021, Kurdish fighter Mahsum Aslan’s remains were delivered to his family by post three years after his death, after they were called to the police department for collection.
Before Aslan was shipped in a plastic box to his family, in April, locals discovered 18 boxes buried under a pavement in Istanbul. The boxes contained mixed remains of dozens of different fighters, believed to have been retrieved from a cemetery used by Kurdish fighters in Bitlis (Bedlîs).
