As a response to the confessions coming from the mafia leader Sedat Peker about the crime, murders, rapes, drug trafficking, and other illicit practices that took place in Turkey with the approval of the state, Turkish Minister of Interior Suleyman Soylu stated that no torture or mistreatment took place during his period.
However many organisations or individuals are continuously exposing Soylu’s claims as lies including Amnesty International and various other human rights organisations.
The murders that have taken place in the mostly Kurdish populated areas of Turkey, more often than not, remain uninvestigated, unsolved and so the perpetrators can continue to act with impunity and do not face or fear any form of punishment whatsoever.
Hakkari (Colemerg) is one of them. It is a city in the southeast of Turkey, located a few kilometers away from the Iraq–Turkey border.
For the last 6 years, at least 11 civilians have lost their lives there as a result of live gun fire opened by soldiers or police.
MA has reported on all of these murders that took place within Suleyman Soylu’s political timeframe in Hakkari, in which the majority of the victims were either grazing their animals or having a picnic in the area, close to their homes.
They were all killed by Turkish soldiers on ‘suspicion of being a ‘terrorist’.
On 8th October 2016, HDP Co-Chairperson Pervin Buldan’s nephew Serhat Buldan, Rahmi Safhalı, Necdet İşözü, and Aydın Tümen were killed by machine gun fire coming from a police vehicle in the Gever district.
A lawsuit against the police in relation to the incident resulted in no prosecution signalling to the police officers involved that they are free to kill with impunity.
Çetin Başer died as a result of police opening fire from the Dûrê Police Station in Şemzînan on 10th October 2017 as the governorship glibly announced the murder as an ‘accident’.
On October 14th, 2017, in Evliyan village, again in Şemzînan, Adem Kuyumcu died as a result of gunshots fired from the police station while watering his garden.
On July 18th, 2016, 55-year-old Sürmi İnce, who was taking food to his children in the district of Gever, was murdered as a result of gunfire shot by Turkish soldiers. The sentence given to specialist sergeant Ali Dağkıran for the murder of Sürmi, was 3 years and 4 months which was overturned by the Court of Appeal.
During a house raid in Gever district on 17th July 2017, Necmettin Fendik was killed gunfire in front of his children. The policeman who opened fire, A.F.K is still on duty today.
On 1st August, 2019, 14-year-old Vedat Ekinci died as a result of gunfire by soldiers in Derecik while he was grazing his animals.
On 2nd May, 2019, Sertip Şen, 46, who was also grazing his sheep in the Onbaşılar Village of Gever, was murdered by soldiers. The perpetrator, specialist Sergeant M.T. was released on condition of “judicial control”.
On 29th October, 2020, in Gever district, Şerali Dereli died as a result of gunfire by Turkish soldiers.
On 30th November, 2020, 16-year-old Özcan Erbaş, who was having a picnic with two of his friends in the village of Birox in Derecik, died from a Turkish soldier’s bullet. There is a confidentiality order regarding the murder.
