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Turkish Police Crime against humanity photos show dead body being dragged behind police vehicle

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This photo taken from a Twitter account named “JİTEM” shows a dead body being dragged behind a police vehicle in Şırnak province.

This photo taken from a Twitter account named “JİTEM” shows a dead body being dragged behind a police vehicle in Şırnak province.

According to media reports, the dead body was that of Hacı Lokman Birlik, the brother-in-law of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şırnak deputy Leyla Birlik. Hacı Lokman Birlik was killed on Friday in a clash between members of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces in Şırnak.

Sharing a photo of the incident on his Twitter account, HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş wrote on Sunday: “Look at this photo closely. It was taken the day before yesterday in Şırnak. Nobody should forget this and we will never forget it.”

Pro-Justice and Development Party (AK Party) figures claimed on Sunday that the photos were fabricated and that they were intentionally served to the media by PKK sympathizers to create a negative public perception about the AK Party government. However, the same figures claimed later the same day that the body had been tied to the police car in case the body was booby-trapped. The pro-government Akşam daily claimed on Sunday afternoon that dragging bodies in such a way was a “routine practice” that is performed across the world as a security precaution.

Akşam’s report also claimed that dead bodies suspected of being booby-trapped are dragged by people holding ropes if the body is found in a rural area but if the body is found in a residential area, the body is pulled by a police car to protect locals. No official statement has yet been made about the photos.

Birlik was buried after a funeral on Saturday in the Dicle neighborhood in Şırnak. HDP Şırnak deputies Leyla Birlik, Faysal Sarıyıldız and Aycan İrmez attended the funeral.

Speaking to reporters following the funeral, Leyla Birlik’s husband, Mehmet Birlik, said that they will not surrender to the AK Party despite all the pressure it is putting on Kurdish people. Sarıyıldız also told the press that it was “the barbarism of the AK Party that killed Birlik.”

In the meantime, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday afternoon that it has launched an investigation over the photos. In a written statement, the ministry said that all the claims regarding the photos will be investigated by the ministry.

Source: Zaman

Turkey’s police arrest 44 people in raids targeting Kurd PKK

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198295Turkish police detained 44 people in Istanbul on Friday, October 2, on suspicion of links with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in a continuing crackdown on militants ahead of a snap national election in November, local media reported, according to Reuters.

Fighting between the Turkish military and the outlawed PKK resumed in the country’s mainly Kurdish southeast following the collapse in July of a ceasefire and has reached an intensity unseen since the 1990s. More than 120 security personnel and hundreds of militants have been killed.

Among those detained on Friday were district officials of the People’s Democratic Party (HDP), a pro-Kurdish party which the government accuses of having links with the hardline PKK.

An HDP spokesman had no immediate information on the arrests. There was also no comment from Turkish police.

Among the 44 people arrested were union members and former district mayors, Turkish media reported.

In the predominantly Kurdish southeastern city of Diyarbakir, security sources said police had imposed a curfew in the Silvan neighborhood where two soldiers were shot dead by suspected PKK militants on Thursday as they left for work.

Reuters. Turkey detains 44 people in raids targeting Kurdish militants: media

Three Turkish police forces, civilian killed in PKK attacks

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Villagers search for the bodies of Turkish soldiers inside a destroyed armored vehicle near Dağlıca district, southeastern Turkey, on September 7, 2015. (AFP)

Villagers search for the bodies of Turkish soldiers inside a destroyed armored vehicle near Dağlıca district, southeastern Turkey, on September 7, 2015. (AFP)

Three Turkish police forces and a civilian have been killed in two roadside bomb attacks blamed on Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants in the country’s southeast.

The explosive, planted under a bridge on Şemdinli-Yüksekova highway in the Şemdinli district of Hakkâri province, detonated on Tuesday afternoon while an army vehicle was passing, Turkey’s English-language news website Bugun cited a statement released by the General Staff of Turkey.

Three more soldiers also sustained injuries in the incident and were taken to a hospital, the statement further said.

Elsewhere in the province of Batman, a similar attack claimed the lives of a police officer and a truck driver and wounded three other policemen.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Tuesday that over 30 PKK militants had been killed in an overnight cross-border offensive by the country’s army.

Ankara launched an operation against PKK militants in the country and in neighboring Iraq in July. A shaky ceasefire between Ankara and the PKK that had stood since 2013 was declared as null and void following the Turkish military campaign.

Erdogan has vowed to eliminate the outlawed PKK, which has been fighting for an autonomous Kurdish region inside Turkey since the 1980s The conflict has left tens of thousands of people dead.​

Two Turkish police killed in Kurdish attack: officials

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© AFP/File | Turkish police stand near a building where two police officers were found shot dead at their home on July 22, 2015 in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar

© AFP/File | Turkish police stand near a building where two police officers were found shot dead at their home on July 22, 2015 in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar

ISTANBUL (AFP) –
Two Turkish police were killed in the southern town of Adana Monday in an attack by Kurdish rebels, a press report said, quoting local officials.

Assailants riding on a motorcycle opened fire on a police car outside a hospital and then fled, the Dogan press agency said.

One died instantly and the second died after emergency surgery, it said, quoting the local governor, Mustafa Buyuk.

“Early indications are that it was an attack by the terrorist organisation,” Buyuk said, in a reference to the rebel Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

The Turkish government launched a major campaign against the PKK in late July, aimed at forcing it out of strongholds in southeastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

The group has hit back hard, killing dozens of police and soldiers in almost daily bomb and shooting attacks.

Nearly 150 soldiers and police have been killed in attacks since July blamed on the PKK compared with more than 1,300 rebels, according to pro-government media. The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democracy Party (HDP) says dozens of civilians have been killed in police and military operations.

The escalation comes ahead of snap elections on November 1.

The violence has shattered a two-year-ceasefire which had stoked hopes of an end to the PKK’s three-decade insurgency, in which more than 40,000 people have died.

Turkish police attack and loot Armenian church in Diyarbakir

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turkish-police.lootingThe St. Giragos Armenian Catholic Church in Turkey’s Diyarbakir city became the target of attacks by the Turkish police during the curfew announced in the city’s Sur municipality of Diyarbakir.

The policemen not only attacked the ancient church, but also stole certain historic items, Akunq.net reports.

President of the Armenian Association of Mesopotamia Arat Karagozyan said the Armenian community plans on filing a lawsuit with the court. According to him, the damage inflicted amounts to 300,000 Turkish liras.

“The police entered the church, breaking its historic doors. The large attack on the church is apparent. Six large historic faience pictures and a number of carved stones were stolen,” he said.

Earlier, St. Giragos suffered damages during clashes between Turkish police forces and Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militia.

Israeli police storm al-Aqsa, clash with Palestinians

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228720Israeli police raided the plaza outside Jerusalem‘s al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday in what they said was a bid to head off Palestinian attempts to disrupt visits by Jews and foreign tourists on the eve of the Jewish New Year.

Police used tear gas and threw stun grenades towards Palestinian youths, who barricaded themselves inside the mosque and hurled rocks and flares, a Reuters witness said. Israeli Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, in a statement, claimed the Palestinian youngsters also had pipe bombs.

There was no sign that these had been detonated. No serious injuries were reported and the compound, revered by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and by Jews as the Temple Mount, was opened to visitors after the violence subsided, police said.

Turkey Three police officers killed in PKK attacks in Turkey’s southeast

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plc.thumb-pkkA total of three police officers were killed and seven were wounded on Sept. 13 in two separate attacks by the  Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the southeastern Şırnak and Diyarbakır provinces, Doğan News Agency has reported.

PKK  detonated a bomb-laden vehicle in front of a police checkpoint in Şırnak early in the morning, killing two police officers and wounding five.

According to initial reports, two militants responsible for the attack were killed as an air-supported operation began to apprehend the other fleeing militants.

In a separate attack in Diyarbakır’s Silvan province, PKK  killed one police officer and wounded two, including a civilian.

PKK  attacked a group of police team heading toward Mescit neighborhood to cover up the ditches dug by the Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), the youth wing of the PKK. One police officer inside an earth-digger was killed as a rocket-propelled grenade hit on it. Police forces immediately responded the attack and an armed clash erupted with the militants. One police officer and one civilian who was on his balcony during the clashes were wounded.

Thousands of Turkish Police, Soldiers, Daily Attacking Kurdish Cities With Heavy Weapons

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Since 24th of July, 32 civiturkish_military-300x170lians have been killed, and several injured. Turkish military and police forces in Kurdistan reportedly say: ‘Many people will die and we will remain in the districts till the end of elections`. After 48 hours of attacks in Şırnak’s Cizre district and the murder of four civilians, the attacks by the Turkish military state have started now in Diyarbakir`s Sur district. Read more

Special operation teams blockaded Sur district as of the early morning hours of today, and opened fire on people at random in Hasırlı neighborhood. While the blockade by security forces in the neighbourhood continues, people have started to gather in the district in anger over the arbitrary shootings and deliberate blockades. Police forces are now attacking those peoples too. At the same time, phone and internet lines remain cut off, which hinders the provision of proper information from the area. Currently the limited flow of information indicates that two people have lost their lives so far, but it is possible that the numbers of killed and injured could be much higher.

No Security of Life for Kurds

These attacks highlight the lack of security of life for Kurds, as the Turkish state forces prepare for yet another massacre of civilians. During today’s crackdown, and the security forces attempts to enter neighbourhoods and open fire at random in Cizre and Sur, six deaths have resulted. It is reported that police, in their reign of terror, have threatened that ‘many people will die’, and that they will remain present in the district until the elections.

Thousands of police, soldiers and special operation teams have been deployed to schools, and other state institutions around the neighbourhoods of Nur, Sur, Cudi and Yafes in Cizre and the neighbourhood of Hasirli in Sur. Additionally, a large number of tanks and armoured vehicles occupy the streets, increasing the level of fear and terror for the civilians. Reports indicate that some 600 special operation police were dispatched to the district in 250 armoured vehicles, and over 150 buses brought in Special Forces two days ago in line with an instruction from the Ministry of the Interior.

Local People are Trying to Resist

Civilians are resisting the curfew in place since yesterday in Cizre and Sur, and youths have started carrying out self-defence operations to hinder police forces from entering the neighbourhoods. HDP Şırnak deputy, Ferhat Encü and Cizre co-mayor Leyla İmret, stated that the hospital in the district has been blockaded by police forces, preventing civilians from taking the injured to access medical assistance.

Using the so-called fight against IS as a pretext, AKP also launched a wave of repression against Kurds in Turkey and Iraq. This war is weakening the Kurds who have been successfully battling ISIS and is boosting the morale of and strengthening ISIS.
We call upon the international community to stand up against the war declared by the Turkish state, its military, its police and its special forces.
We call upon the EU, UN and the USA to speak up against the dirty plans of Turkey.
We call upon the international media to go to Kurdistan to report on the war, and document and highlight the vast number of atrocities being enacted against the Kurdish people.

Source: kurdistantribune.com

Turkey: One civilian, one police officer killed three were wounded in attacks in eastern Turkey

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ANKARA – Anadolu Agency

DHA Photo

DHA Photo

One civilian and one police officer were killed and three were wounded in separate attacks in Turkey’s eastern provinces on Sept. 4, official security sources have said.
In the first incident, at least two militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were also killed in Turkey’s eastern Tunceli province after an exchange of fire with security forces on Sept. 4, local security sources said.

A group of PKK militants opened fire on the Şehit Nahit Bulut Police Department on Cumhuriyet Avenue.

Police responded with gunfire and in the resulting exchange two militants were killed at the entrance of the police station. Security teams have been dispatched to the area to contain the ongoing clash, sources added.

Separately, a specialist sergeant was critically wounded in a roadside bomb attack on a security patrol in eastern Van province at noon on Sept. 4, security sources said.

The patrolling Turkish soldiers were from the Yeşilbulak Military Guard Post of the 4th Border Battalion, the sources added.

The wounded soldier was transferred in a military helicopter to the Dursun Odabaşı Medical Center in the Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Medicine. Security forces launched an operation in the area to detain the attackers.

On Sept. 4, one civilian was killed and two others, including a child, were wounded when PKK militants opened fire on a pickup truck in southeastern Şırnak province, security sources added.

The 27-year-old driver of the vehicle succumbed to his wounds while being transferred to Şırnak State Hospital. A six-year-old child and a specialist sergeant were wounded in the attack, the sources added.

Government figures show 72 security forces and 20 civilians have been killed since July 7 – when a police officer was shot dead in a PKK attack – while 965 PKK militants have been killed since July 22 in land and air operations in eastern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Turkey 12 Turkish police officers charged in the death of US woman at Istanbul airport

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ISTANBUL – Doğan News Agency

n_87987_1A U.S. citizen who died after an altercation with police at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport in 2013 has been seen gasping for air as police officers forcibly held her to the ground in surveillance camera footage of the incident.
Tracey Lynn Brown, 48, arrived in April 2013 at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport from the Uzbek capital Tashkent to transfer to a Chicago-bound Turkish Airlines plane and waited for 13 hours in the international arrivals terminal.

According to camera footage, she entered a room belonging to the passport check bureau and had a quarrel with police officers before being removed from the room.

In their previous testimonies, the police officers had said Brown constantly asked about her daughter and was aggressive, refusing to make contact.

About six minutes later, Brown was seen again storming the room. According to the police officers’ claims, she scattered computers and documents inside.

Brown later wounded one of the police officers with a pair of scissors, according to the indictment. She was handcuffed and then taken to a preview and transfer room, the video showed.

Police officers handcuffed Brown to a chair but she was able to release herself. In response, seven police officers forced Brown to the ground face down and handcuffed her from behind. They were seen putting pressure on Brown’s back, feet and hands with their knees for about 17 minutes.

The police officers also called a doctor in the airport identified as Mesut Ö., but he was not seen making any contact with Brown. According to the indictment and the report, he ordered the medical team to inject Brown with anodyne. Mesut Ö. and the medical team then left the room about four minutes later, however they came back later when a police officer realized that Brown did not have pulse. Mesut Ö. was seen performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Brown for about seven minutes. She was later transferred to a hospital.

Brown was transferred to another hospital on the same day and spent ten days in the intensive care unit at another hospital, where she died on April 18, 2013.

The three reports requested by the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor’s Office concluded there was a casual relation between the actions of the police officers and Brown’s death.

“The cause of death was the pressure on her chest and neck area for an extended amount of time,” the report stated, adding that Brown was unconscious for 13 days.

The first two reports meanwhile did not mention any accusations against Mesut Ö., but in the most recent report issued in 2014, he was impeached for not having contact with the patient or treating her firsthand, which does not comply with medical rules.

Following the investigation, the Bakırköy Public Prosecutor’s Office filed a lawsuit against 12 police officers and Mesut Ö. on the grounds of death by excessive force and demanded imprisonment from 12 years to 16 for the police officers and from two years to six years for the doctor.

Meanwhile, the police officers defended during both their investigation and trial testimonies that they had been within their right to use force and within their legal boundaries, denying the accusations. They added Brown had suddenly entered the room and showed aggressive behavior. They also said Brown had scissors in her hand during the second altercation and attacked randomly, wounding one police officer in his hand.

The next trial of the incident is scheduled to be held in October.

Source: hurriyetdailynews.com