Servet Turgut, who was thrown from a military helicopter that belongs to the Turkish armed forces, lost his life. Both villagers, Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were thrown from a helicopter on 11 September. Hospital records and eyewitness statements confirm that the incident took place.
What happened?
On 11 September 2020, two villagers Osman Şiban (50) and Servet Turgut (55) were taken into custody in the Çatak (Şax) district of Van (Wan) in Turkey after a military operation. Two days after being detained, news spread that Şiban and Turgut were in hospital. They had been tortured.
Servet Turgut, a father of seven children, was working on his land when he was taken into custody by soldiers who were engaged in an operation. The allegation that Turgut was thrown from a military helicopter was strengthened by the findings of his health report. It states that: “An anonymous patient was brought in due to a fall from a height”.
Şiban, who has been discharged from the hospital, suffers from memory loss due to the torture he was subjected to. A health report that had been prepared for Şiban, who had been taken to a private hospital by the soldiers on 11 September, points to his ill treatment. It records his general condition on arrival as ‘bad’, stating that he had bruises in both eyes and swelling in the head, neck, and face due to trauma. The report determined that he required intensive care treatment. He was subsequently transferred to Van’s Regional Training and Research Hospital.
Ten days after the incident was made public, the mayor of Van announced that: “One of the suspects fell in rocky terrain while escaping”. The injuries of the other villager were not explained. However, eyewitnesses said that the villagers were thrown from a helicopter.
It has been claimed that the information about falling “from a height” was provided by the soldiers who brought Şiban and Turgut to the hospital. When Şiban awoke from intensive care, he said: “They threw us, they threw us”.