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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - A Kurdish lawmaker on Monday sent several questions to Turkey’s defence minister and vice president about the two young men who were detained by Turkish army in Erbil province's bordering village on Friday.
Akram Khalil Zikri, 20, and Zedan Nabi Mustafa,18, from Dayla village in Sidakan sub-district were attending to their horses when they entered an area that the Turkish army considers a "conflict zone" and were immediately arrested by the Turkish soldiers in the morning, a close family member of the two cousins told Rudaw English on Saturday.
The family told Rudaw English on Monday that the fate of the young men remains unclear.
Huseyin Kacmaz, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker in Sirnak province, told Rudaw English on Monday that he has sent several questions to Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and Vice President Fuat Oktay about the two Kurdish youths.
“Is it true that they have been detained? If so, what are the facts behind their detention?” Kacmaz begins his questions, a copy of which has been submitted to Rudaw English.
The outspoken lawmaker also asked both Turkish officials about the whereabouts of Zikri and Mustafa and how they were detained. “What is their crime?”
Kacmaz asked about the total number of similar detentions by the Turkish army in the Kurdistan Region as well.
Ihsan Chalabi, mayor of nearby Sidakan sub-district, has confirmed the detentions of the two young men to Rudaw.
The Turkish army has established dozens of outposts in the bordering areas in the Kurdistan Region in pursuit of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) fighters that have fought Turkey since the 1980s.
Turkey regularly bombs the area and Turkish drones monitor the Kurdistan Region on a daily bases, launching missiles that have killed and wounded dozens of civilians.
The two young men have been taken to Rubarok (Derecik) district in Turkey’s Kurdish-populated Hakkari province and they have been seen by locals, the source said, adding that the Kurdish authorities in the Bradost area are in contact with the Turkish army to release the men.
PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and carries out military operations against it at home as well as in Iraq, Kurdistan Region and Syria.
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