The family of Lokman Görgün, a father of eight children, killed on 8 April in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority province of Mardin (Mêrdîn), have applied to the Human Rights Association (İHD) suspecting an extrajudicial execution, Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) reported on Sunday.
Görgün and Musa Kahraman, a member of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party’s (PKK) People’s Defence Forces (HPG), were killed during an ambush set on a village road in the rural area of Cinata in the Ömeryan region of Mardin on 8 April.
Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu claimed that both were members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and responsible for the death of three police officers in a 2016 conflict. However, both Kahraman’s and Görgün’s families, as well as local villagers, have raised suspicions of an extrajudicial execution.
The family claimed that unidentified individuals attacked Görgün while he was riding his motorcycle. “We haven’t seen our father’s red motorbike since the incident,” they said.
The family requested legal assistance from the IHD, claiming that Görgün, a farmer who had no connection with any organisation, was the victim of an extrajudicial execution. The IHD also announced that a criminal complaint will be lodged with Mardin Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the case.
Meanwhile, the HPG issued a statement claiming that Lokman Görgün was an innocent and unarmed Kurdish patriot, who was unlawfully executed by the Turkish army. The relatives of Görgün and Kahraman suspect that their murders were perpetrated by counter-guerrilla forces.