24-29 December 2015 Daily Human Rights Report
(12/189) Curfew in Cizre…
Curfew in Cizre district of Şırnak reached its 11th day as of 24 December 2015.
Azime Aşan (59) was shot to death by sniper on 23 December 2015 nearby a factory in Nur quarter.
Dikran Sayaca was also killed when the police opened fire in Sur quarter.
Adile Karaduman (55) was wounded on the night of 22 December 2015 when the police opened fire.
Emine Duman (75) was shot to death on 22 December 2015 when Security Forces opened fire in Cudi quarter.
Lütfü Aksoy (25) who was heavily wounded on 19 December 2015 when the tanks attacked Cudi quarter died on 23 December 2015.
Ferdi Kalkan (20) was shot to death on 24 December 2015 when the police opened fire in Cudi quarter.
(12/190) Curfew in Dargeçit…
Curfew in Dargeçit district of Mardin reached its 14th day as of 24 December 2015.
Security Forces continued operations in the district and M.T. (12-boy) was wounded on 23 December 2015 when Security Forces opened fire while playing in front of her/his house.
Necim Kılıç (67) and her daughter Sabahat Kılıç (28) were killed, 3 persons were wounded when their house was fusilladed in Safa quarter.
(12/191) Curfew in Nusaybin…
Sub-Governorate of Nusaybin announced that the curfew was lifted on its 7th day on 24 December 2015.
(12/192) Curfew in Sur…
Curfew in Sur district of Diyarbakır reached its 14th day as of 24 December 2015.
Mesut Seviktek was shot to death on 23 December 2015 when Security Forces opened fire in Hasırlı quarter.
Salih Baygın (70) suffering from asthma died when a police officer threw tear gas canister in his hose during the clashes on Melik Ehmed Avenue.
(12/193) Operations and Attacks in the Southeast…
Non-commissioned gendarmerie officer Sıddık Uluocak (46) who was wounded during an armed attack against Çakırsöğüt Commando Brigade in Şırnak died on 23 December 2015 in Ankara.
A soldier died, 6 soldiers and a civilian were wounded when a bomb exploded on 23 December 2015 in Sur district of Diyarbakır where curfew was imposed.
(12/194) Explosion in Şırnak…
S.B. (10-boy) was wounded on 23 December 2015 in İdil district of Şırnak when a tear gas canister s/he found exploded. S.B. was hospitalised with possible risk of losing one eye.
(12/195) Racist Attack Case in Manisa…
Uşak Penal Court of First Instance No 2 concluded on 23 December 2015 to hear the case against 80 persons launched in connection with the racist attacks which had sparkled in Selendi district of Manisa on 24 December 2009 and resulted with the exile of 74 Roma people including15 juveniles from the district on 5 January 2010.
The case was transferred to Uşak for security reasons. The court sentenced 38 defendants to terms of imprisonment varying from 8 months to 45 years under the articles 216, 151 and 152 TPC. 42 were acquitted in the case.
(12/196) Person Acquitted in Gaziantep…
Geziantep Heavy Penal Court No 2 concluded on 22 December 2015 to hear the case against Şehriban Sertkal (20) launched on charges of “being member of an illegal organisation”, “making propaganda of an illegal organisation”, “resisting security forces”, and “violating the Law on Meetings and Demonstrations”. Born deaf Şehriban Sertkal was attacked by ultra-nationalist during Kobanê demonstrations in Gaziantep and paralysed for being shot during the attack.
Since Şehriban Sertkal’s treatment was on-going in Ankara, s/he testified through SEGBİS teleconference system. After the final defence as to the accusations, the court acquitted the defendant.
(12/197) Operations throughout Turkey…
Operations against Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Peoples’ Democratic Congress (HDK), Democratic Regions Party (DBP), and Democratic Society Congress (DTK) continued on23 December 2015. 3 persons in Sincan district of Ankara and 6 persons in Aksaray were detained during the operations.
Doğan News Agency (DHA) correspondent Ramazan İmrağ was detained on 23 December 2015 in Cizre district of Şırnak when he was following the incidents during blockade in Cizre.
(12/198) Curfew in Sur…
Curfew and operations in Sur district of Diyarbakır reached its 19th day as of 29 December 2015.
Sezgin Demirok, Şoreş Mutlu and Cüneyt Yeni were found dead on 24 December 2015 in Şehitlik quarter. Since there were plastic clamp band beside the bodies, the persons were allegedly executed after being captured.
İsa Oran was reportedly shot to death when Security Forces opened fire on 23 December 2015 in Hasırlı quarter.
A male aged 50 was allegedly shot to death on the night of 24 December 2015 for not having an ID.
5 police officers and 6 soldiers were wounded when 2 improvised explosive devices exploded on 28 December 2015.
(12/199) Curfew in Cizre…
Curfew and blockade in Cizre district of Şırnak reached its 16th day as of 29 December 2015 and the attacks of the Security Forces continued. 5 persons were wounded when Cudi and Yafes quarters were attacked by the tanks.
3 persons were also wounded in Yafes quarter when soldiers opened fire. Abdulmecit Yanık and Hacı Özdal died in the hospital.
Soulın İnce and 3-month baby Miray İnce were shot by the snipers on 25 December 2015 when they were in the garden of their house. Since the ambulance was not allowed to enter the quarter, the grandfather Ramazan İnce wanted to take the mother and the baby to the ambulance on Nusaybin Avenue. But he was also shot to death. The grandmother and the aunt Rukiye İnce were also wounded during the attack. The baby Miray İnce died in the hospital.
Mehmet Eriç (23) was heavily wounded during the attacks on 27 December 2015 in Sur quarter.
Ali Tetik (34) was wounded during the attacks on 27 December 2015 in Cudi quarter.
Kumru Işık (85) whose health condition deteriorated due to heavy attacks on 28 December 2015 in Nur quarter died at home.
Hüseyin Ertene (16) was reportedly shot to death during the attacks on 28 December 2015 in Cudi quarter. Orhan Levent was also wounded during the attacks of Special Forces.
Hüseyin Selçuk (5) was shot at the back of neck and killed when Security Forces opened fire from an armoured vehicle on 28 December 2015 on Merdan street in Cudi quarter.
Salih Demir (50) and his son E.D. (13) were wounded when Security Forces opened fire from an armoured vehicle in the evening of 28 December 2015 when they were going home.
(12/200) Curfew in Silopi…
Curfew in Silopi district of Şırnak reached its 16th day as of 29 December 2015.
Mihriban Ökten (23) was shot at back and wounded when fire opened on 25 December 2015 in Dicle quarter.
Hasan Sanır (75) was shot to death when Security Forces opened fire on 25 December 2015. He reportedly left his house to find some vittles.
Şirin Altay who was heavily wounded with shrapnel when her/his house was shot with an artillery bomb reportedly died on 26 December 2015 in the hospital in Batman.
Dengbêj (Kurdish traditional singing storyteller) Salihê Şirnexî (Salih Erener) whose health condition deteriorated due to heavy bombing on 27 December 2015 in Karşıyaka quarter died at home when the ambulance was not allowed to enter the quarter.
(12/201) Attacks against Curfew Protests
The police opened fire against a group who staged a protest on 24 December 2015 in Yüksekova district of Hakkari and 2 persons were wounded.
11 members of Free Women Congress (Kongra Jinen Azad/Özgür Kadın Kongresi – KJA) were detained under beatings when they staged a sit-in action on 25 December 2015 in İzmir.
The police attacked the march on 27 December 2015 in Şırnak by using tear gas and water cannons. 2 protesters were wounded during the police attack.
Ramazan Öztürk (67) and Suphi Üstek (23) were heavily wounded when the police attacked the protest on 25 December 2015 in Şırnak.
Şiyar Sav (18) shot and heavily wounded during a clash that broke out after the police intervention against a protest on 26 December 2015 in Seyhan district of Adana.
Sedat Baran (20) was shot to death when the police opened fire against a group on 27 December 2015 in Akdeniz district of Mersin. 3 persons were also wounded during the police intervention.
An alleged female HPG militant was shot to death in Ersoylu quarter of Kızıltepe district of Mardin when the police attacked the protest on 26 December 2015.
(12/202) Operations and Attacks in the Southeast…
A soldier died and 2 soldiers were wounded during an armed clash that broke out on 24 December 2015 in Cizre district of Şırnak where curfew and blockade were imposed.
3 soldiers died, a police officer and a soldier were wounded when a armoured vehicle was attacked on 27 December 2015 in Cizre district of Şırnak.
3 HPG militants and civilian driver Rêzan Baran who were on vehicle were killed when an armed clash broke out on 26 December 2015 nearby Mêranê village of Dargeçit district in Mardin.
A soldier died and a soldier was wounded during an armed clash on 28 December 2015 in Silopi district of Şırnak.
Governorate of Kars announced that several regions in Sarıkamış district of the province were decided to be temporary security zones for 15 days until 1 March 2016. Entrance of civilians to the security zones was also banned.
(12/203) Syrian Journalist Assassinated in Gaziantep…
Syrian journalist Naji El Jerf who fled from civil war in Syrian and resided in Gaziantep was shot to death on 27 December 2015 by an unidentified assailant with a silencer on Ali Fuat Cebesoy Avenue.
Naji El Jerf reportedly continued to publish the magazine Alhita in Gaziantep which he started to publish in Syria and he recently produced a documentary on the massacres of IS/ISIS.
(12/204) Bomb Attack in İstanbul…
Sabiha Gökçen Airport in İstanbul was attacked on 23 December 2015 with mortar bombs. The worker Zehra Yamaç (30) was heavily wounded during the attack and died in the hospital. Some of the planes were damaged during the attack and Kurdistan Freedom Falcons claimed the attack on 26 December 2015.
(12/205) Tahir Elçi Investigation…
New information was revealed on 24 December 2015 concerning the killing of Tahir Elçi. An eyewitness testified to the effect that Tahir Elçi was shot when he was trying to take shelter behind the Dört Ayaklı Minare.
The Lawyers Commission of Diyarbakır Bar Association following the investigation announced that the video recording of the police was suspiciously cancelled right after the first shot. The commission also added those 17 seconds of the incident was not recorded and therefore was not included in the investigation file. The police restarted to record when 2 members of Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H) were escaping. The lawyers stressed that those 17 seconds of recording could have been deleted. The lawyers demanded the recording to be examined by independent experts. On the other hand, the police officer who was recording the incident testified to the effect that he stopped recording in the heat of the moment.
(12/206) Lice Massacre and Bahtiyar Aydın Case…
İzmir Heavy Penal Court No 1 continued on 25 December 2015 to hear the case launched in connection with the killings of 14 civilians, one soldier and Gendarmerie Regional Commander Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın. Retired Colonel Eşref Hatipoğlu who was gendarmerie commander in Diyarbakır on the day of the incident is the only defendant in this case, since the other defendant Lieutenant Tünay Yanardağ died.
Since the defendant was not present at the hearing, the court adjourned the hearing to 17 March 2016 demanding the defendant to be present at the hearing.
Gendarmerie Regional Commander Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın went to Lice district of Diyarbakır for investigation right after the incident which led to killing of 14 civilians and 1 soldier in 1993. He was shot to death in the garden of the gendarmerie station by an unidentified assassin.
The case launched in connection with the killing of Brigadier General Bahtiyar Aydın was transferred to Eskişehir Heavy Penal Court No 1 for security reasons. Eskişehir Heavy Penal Court No 1 took the decision of non-jurisdiction on the grounds that the court was not specially authorized court. 5th Penal Chamber at the Court of Cassation sent the files of the case to İzmir Heavy Penal Court on 24 February 2014.
İzmir Heavy Penal Court No 1 decided on 13 June 2014 to suspend to hear the case of Bahtiyar Aydın’s killing to ask for permission from Ministry of Justice to investigate retired Colonel Eşref Hatipoğlu and Lieutenant Tünay Yanardağ. The Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors denied on 29 January 2015 the court’s decision to suspend the trial.
(12/207) Child Beaten in Diyarbakır…
F.Y. (15) was beaten by the police on 25 December 2015 in Tekel quarter of Silvan district in Diyarbakır and detained without any justification.
F.Y. was arrested on 27 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
(12/208) Remanded Children on Trial in Ankara…
Sincan Juvenile Court continued on 25 December 2015 to hear the case against 11 children incarcerated in Sincan (Ankara) Juvenile Prison launched upon official complaint of the prison guardians on charges of “wounding and insulting public officers” and “damaging public property”.
It was revealed out on 2 January 2014 that 11 juveniles were tortured by the guardians. Z.Ş., mother of one of the juvenile K.Ş. (16), stated after she talked with his son that the children were tortured being handcuffed and they were stripped naked and hosed cold water.
The court decided to wait for the expert’s report on the video recordings of the day of incident and adjourned the hearing to 1 April 2016. aAt the hearing on 15 January 2015, the court took the decision for the examination of the video recordings by the expert.
(12/209) Conviction in Mardin…
According to the news appeared in the press on 24 December 2015, Midyat (Mardin) Heavy Penal Court No 1 concluded to hear the case against İzzettin Aktaş launched for taking part in a public statement. The court sentenced the defendant for “making propaganda of an illegal organisation” and commuted the sentence to TL 7,650.
(12/210) Attacks against Roboskî Commemorations…
The police intervened a group of persons on 27 December 2015 in Çanakkale who wanted to march from Ferry Quay Square to Security Directorate to commemorate the Roboski Massacre and detained 21 persons.
(12/211) Commemoration Intervened in İzmir…
On 26 December 2015 in Ankara, the police intervened the condolence tent for the death of İsmet Şahin who died in an armed clash in Kobanê fighting against IS/ISIS and detained 6 members of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP).
(12/212) Student Clubs Prevented in İstanbul…
The police intervened the İstanbul University students on 24 December 2015 who wanted to open stands of students clubs in the campus and detained 13 students under beatings.
(12/213) Mayor and Political Party Executives Convicted…
Hınıs (Erzurum) Heavy Penal Court started on 24 December 2015 to hear the case against Hınıs Co-Mayor Hasan Basri Fırat and Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Chair for the district Emin Aydın launched on charges of “disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state” by “being member of PKK’s legal system commission”.
After the testimonies of the defendants, the court sentenced the defendants to 6 years and 3 months’ imprisonment for “being member of an illegal organisation”. The court also decided to release the defendants.
The police conducted raids on 13 October 2015 in Hınıs district of Erzurum and detained Hasan Basri Fırat and Emin Aydın. They were arrested on 14 October 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
(12/214) Attacks and Raids against Political Party Premises…
A group of ultra-nationalists attacked on 24 December 2015 the premises of United Revolutionary Party (Birleşik Devrimci Parti) in Antalya. The attack caused material damage and the attackers wrote racist slogans on the walls of the premises.
The police raided on 24 December 2015 the premises of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) in İzmir and searched the premises.
The police raided on 27 December 2015 the contact office of Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) in Menemen district of İzmir and searched the office.
HDP building in Silopi district of Şırnak was also raided by the police on 27 December 2015. The police searched the building.
(12/215) Operations throughout Turkey…
On 24 December 2015, Special Forces blockaded the Bostaniçi quarter of İpekyolu district in Van and detained 9 persons.
The police intervened on 24 December 2015 a group of persons who staged a demonstration in Tarsus district of Mersin and detained 3 children.
2 persons including one child who were detained during the house raids conducted following the curfew protests in Adana were arrested on 24 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
Van TV correspondent Serkan Kaya who was recording an incident on 24 December 2015 in Hakkari was detained by the police under beatings.
The singer Aram Serhat who was detained during an ID control on 24 December 2015 in İstanbul was arrested on the same day on the allegations of “making propaganda of an illegal organisation” with the songs during a Newroz celebration in Söke district of Aydın.
Kemal Yılmaz, Osman Kısak, Ayhan Tunç and Mehmet Karadağ who were among 15 persons detained during house raids in Halfeli district of Iğdır were arrested on 24 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
Erkan Akbal who was detained in Varto district of Muş was arrested on 24 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
Nimet Özak who was among 3 persons detained during house raids in Siirt was arrested on 24 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
Dicle News Agency (DİHA) correspondent Niyazi Aşan was detained on 24 December 2015 in Çatak district of Van when he was taking photographs of the “take down the shutters” protest in the district.
The police conducted house raids on 25 December 2015 in Iğdır and detained 10 members of Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
Devrim Ecer, HDP executive for central district in Hakkari, was arrested on 25 December 2015 on the allegations of “disrupting the unity and territorial integrity of the state” by attending the self-governance declaration.
Burhan Özaltık, Erdal İlbeyi, Şenol Daşdemir who were among 14 members of Democratic Youth Associations Federation (Demokratik Gençlik Dernekleri Federasyonu – DEM-GENÇ) detained in Kocaeli were arrested on 25 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
Mehmet Şeran, Deniz Yıldız, Dilan Demir and Şeyhmus Çelik who were among 5 HDP activists detained during house raids in Antalya were arrested on 25 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
S.A. (16) ve Harun Mete (18) who were detained during house raids conducted on 24 December 2015 in Cudi quarter of Batman were arrested on the same day on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
Mehmet Ektiren, Şervan Kabak, Mehmet Denk who were detained during house raids conducted in Derik district of Mardin were arrested on 24 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
DBP executive for Bismil district of Diyarbakır province Felemez Bulut who was detained during house raids was arrested on 26 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.
7 children who were detained during house raids conducted in Dargeçit district of Mardin were arrested on 27 December 2015 on the allegations of “being member of an illegal organisation”.