Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Izmir provincial building was attacked by an armed assailant and one young woman has died early hours of this morning( 17th of June)
Killing of the HDP worker Deniz Poyraz in an armed attack by an assailant with a shotgun caused a public outrage and details of the assailant Onur Gencer who attacked have emerged on social media.
The 27-year-old assailant, held in detention at the Counter Terrorism Department in Izmir, said in his first statement, “I don’t have any links to anyone. I entered the building because I hate the PKK -Kurdistan Workers’ Party-. I shot around randomly.”
However, details of the murderer are being revealed including many images of him holding heavy weapons, as well as writing racist messages.
Among these images the assailant took pictures with heavy weapons and some of these images were taken apparently in different cities of Syria. Some of the photos show that the assailant received military training in Syria, MA reports.
The assailant Gencer shared images on social media accounts with a long-barreled gun in Manbij, Syria, with the note “Syria memory”.
In another image taken in Aleppo, Gencer is wearing military camouflage fatigues and making the hand sign of the Grey Wolves, an openly facist racist party in Turkey. It seems that the place where the image is taken is a military venue. These images show that Gencer took part in paramilitary structures and has been in Syria in recent years.
Several documents and international reports have been revealed to the public that Turkey has used paramilitary structures in its civil war in Syria, in which they are used in military operations against Kurds in North and Eastern Syria.
After the murder in Izmir occured various parties and groups started debating on a possible provocation against the HDP and Kurdish people within Turkey and people shared their concerns about the claims of the continuation of these attacks.
Regarding the attack, Turkey’s Association of Progressive Lawyers (ÇHD) shared the following statement on Twitter:
HDP İzmir İl Başkanlığına yapılan silahlı saldırı ve binayı yakma girişimi sonucunda bir parti çalışanının katledilmesi münferit bir olay değildir.
İl binası karşısında polis noktası olmasına rağmen gerçekleştirilen saldırının sorumlusu HDP'yi her daim hedef gösteren devlettir.
— Çağdaş Hukukçular Derneği (@chdgenelmerkez) June 17, 2021
“The murder of a party worker as a result of an armed attack on the HDP İzmir Provincial HQ and the attempt to burn down the building is not an isolated event. Those responsible for this incident which took place despite the fact that there is a police station in front of the party building, is the state, which always points to the HDP as the target.” it said.
HDP’s MP for Van (Wan) Tayip Temel shared the photos of the armed attacker and shared his comments on Twitter as follows:
“The scum who perpetrated that massacre in Izmir took this photo. We know those who train and charge such gangs with duties.”
İzmir’deki katliamı yapan bu alçak Halep’te bu fotoğrafı çekmiş. Bu çetelerin kimler tarafından eğitildiği ve nasıl görevlendirildiklerini biliyoruz. pic.twitter.com/vUnJ3AmvKb
— Tayip Temel (@TayipTemel) June 17, 2021
Foti Benlisoy, a political author, also drew attention to the perpetrator’s previous photos taken in Syria.
İzmir'deki alçakça saldırının faili olan katilin Suriye'nin çeşitli noktalarında çekilmiş silahlı fotoğrafları onun "doldurulmuş", "gaza getirilmiş" bir faşistten çok daha fazlası olduğunun, gayrinizami harp yapılanmasının bir uzantısı olduğunun göstergesi.
— Foti Benlisoy (@fotibenlisoy) June 17, 2021
“Photographs of the killer, who was the perpetrator of the vile attack in Izmir, with guns taken at various locations in Syria, indicate that he is much more than a ‘manipulated’, ‘uplifted’ fascist, and that he is an extension of the unconventional warfare structure.” he wrote.
International voices have also begun to be raised after the incident. Nikolaj Villumsen, member of the Europen Parliament representing the Red-Green Alliance said on Twitter:
“The HDP office in Izmir have just been attacked. HDP female member Deniz Poyraz was killed in the attack. All my solidarity and thoughts are with Denis Poyraz and her family. The EU needs to speak out against the terror and call for an end to the campaign against #HDP!” He used the hashtag #hdphalktir on his tweet that means “HDP is the people”.
The HDP office in Izmir have just been attacked. HDP female member #DenizPoyraz was killed in the attack.
All my solidarity and thoughts with Denis Poyraz and her family.
EU needs to speak out against the terror and call for an end to the campaign against #HDP! #hdphalktir https://t.co/RdYtqLmwxD
— Nikolaj Villumsen (@nvillumsen) June 17, 2021
