The survivor of an ambush has accused village guards and their associates of the attack on Monday in Şırnak (Şirnex) province in southeast Turkey where he, his uncle pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Equality and Democracy (DEM) Party councillor Ahmet Gün and his cousin Abdurrahim Gün were attacked. Ahmet died at the scene, and Abdurrahim was injured.
Mahmut Gün, Ahmet Gün’s nephew and a survivor of the attack, recounted the incident to the Mezopotamya Agency. Gün detailed the events leading up to the assault, describing how they went to their village, Taloka, to collect firewood: “We got up in the morning and prepared our things. We went to our village, Taloka, to collect firewood. After gathering wood for a while, we started to brew tea and eat breakfast. While we were eating breakfast, Enver Babat, Ömer Yarar, Sıddık Babat, and his son Ebubekir Babat arrived in a vehicle. It was around half past ten. The vehicle stopped a little way from us. Sıddık Babat, yelled at us from inside the vehicle, saying, ‘Gather your things and get out of here now!'”
They approached the vehicle, where a confrontation ensued. “When we went up to them, we saw that Sıddık Babat had a Kalashnikov and Enver Babat had a handgun. We said, ‘This is our village, why should we leave?’ Enver Babat swore at him and said, ‘Get out of here!’ After his foul language, Enver Babat hit my cousin Abdurrahim Gün in the face with his cane,” Gün explained.
The situation escalated rapidly. “To prevent a different situation [further escalation], we grabbed hold of Sıddık Babat and Enver Babat, who had guns. At that point, Sıddık Babat’s son Ebubekir Babat and Ömer Yarar also weighed into the attack. Sıddık Babat broke away from us, and immediately fired the Kalashnikov. First my cousin Abdurrahim was injured, I went to help him, then I saw my uncle Ahmet lying on the ground as well. Ömer Yarar fled in the vehicle, and the others ran away,” Gün stated.
He further noted that Enver Babat and Sıddık Babat were village guards, and the weapons used were service firearms. It is being said that the attack was linked to a dispute from several months earlier. So far only one person has been arrested in connection with the incident.
