Kurdish groups accuse Turkey’s government of enabling a surge in child deaths, disappearances and femicide through alliances with local religious groups and criminal elements, following the murder of eight-year-old Narin Güran. Human Rights Association Co-chair Eren Keskin suggested that Narin may have witnessed something “she should not have seen” in her village, leading to her death.
Narin Güran’s body was found on Sunday, 19 days after she went missing in Tavşantepe (Çulî) village, Diyarbakır (Amed), while returning home from a Quran course. Her body was discovered in a streambed, hidden in a sack, after a renewed search was launched following a tip-off. The new discovery despite prior searches of the same area raised suspicions that her body had been moved.
Keskin noted that many in the village may have known about the incident but remained silent to protect each other. She added that her organisation holds information yet to be revealed due to the ongoing investigation. “The impression I have is that Narin witnessed something she shouldn’t have seen in such a closed society, and for that reason, her life was ended,” she said. She also emphasised the importance of the İstanbul Convention, stating, “Narin is yet another victim sacrificed to entrenched ideas of morality.”
Turkey officially withdrew from the İstanbul Convention on 1 July 2021, a move criticised by rights groups who argue that it weakens protections for women and children against violence.
Keskin also criticised the handling of the investigation, pointing to what she described as misleading information provided by the gendarmerie. “A week ago, the gendarmerie said, ‘We have solved the case; we are close to finding Narin,’ which calmed the public, but this was not true,” she said, and asked why the authorities would release such false statements. Keskin suggested that this could be part of a broader pattern of complicity or cover-up involving state forces.
Local suspicions are further fuelled by the community’s political and religious affiliations. The village of Tavşantepe, where Narin lived, is described as a conservative, religious community that predominantly votes for Hüda-Par, a pro-government Kurdish Islamist party with links to the Turkish Hizbullah (unconnected to the Lebanese group of the same name). Keskin implied that these connections may have contributed to a lack of transparency and accountability in the investigation. “The state appears to be protecting certain local actors, including those aligned with religious sects,” she added.
Protests erupted in Diyarbakır (Amed), where thousands marched against Turkey’s perceived alliances with groups like Hizbullah, chanting slogans such as “End state and sect violence” and “Justice for Narin.” Çiğdem Kiliçgun Uçar, Co-chair of the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP), stated, “We will not allow more children to go the way of Narin.” Uçar highlighted that state policies and alliances with groups like Hizbullah contribute to the violence against Kurdish children and women.
Protesters voiced anger over the perceived nexus between the state and these religious groups. “Narin is our child; her killer is the state,” they chanted, accusing the Turkish government of using groups like Hizbullah to suppress Kurdish activism and community organisation. “End state and religious violence,” they demanded, pointing to what is perceived as the state’s deliberate strategy to foster instability and fear in Kurdish areas.
Activists have also pointed to broader systemic failures in Turkey, such as missing child statistics not having been updated since 2016, and accused the government of failing to protect vulnerable populations. The Children’s Rights Centre of Diyarbakır’s Bar Association criticised the state’s lack of transparency, stressing the need for a thorough investigation. “We are committed to ensuring that those responsible are found and punished,” they stated, highlighting broader concerns over child protection and justice in Turkey.
