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ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — Ali Babacan, a former ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, slammed the government on Monday for its treatment of Kurds in the southeastern part of the country, calling for the prosecution of those behind the torture and killings in recent years.
Two Kurdish villagers, Servet Turgut and Osman Siban, were allegedly thrown out of a helicopter by Turkish security forces during an operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Van province on September 11. They were both severely injured. Turgut died on September 30 and Siban has not fully recovered yet.
Turkish authorities have not taken action against the perpetrators, angering many Kurds.
Babacan served as Erdogan’s deputy between 2009 and 2014. The politician, who later split from Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and formed his Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) in March 2020, criticized the reported torture of the Kurdish villagers.
“Two of our villagers were detained while they were in good health but Servet Turgut died at the age of 64 after failing to ensure the torture he experienced … and Osman Siban was severely injured due to the torture and ill treatment he experienced,” Babacan said during a DEVA conference in the eastern city of Van on Monday.
The politician, whose party appears to be courting Kurdish and AKP supporter votes, noted that he visited the family of Turgut to express his condolences and spoke on the phone with Siban.
Erdogan initiated new judicial “reform” on November 13 to improve basic human rights.
Babacan called on the government to start implementing reforms being deliberated on by prosecuting those responsible for the torturing of Siban and Turgut.
“I call on the government: as you know in the last week or 10 days, you are talking about law reforms. You are talking about a “human rights action plan.” I am openly calling on you to practice an example of the state of law by revealing the perpetrators [who tortured] Servet Turgut and Osman Siban and prosecute them,” said the party leader.
“If you fail to do what’s required, this nation will remember you as ‘the government who returned torture to this country,’’” he warned.
Amnesty International was among those local and international rights groups which called for the investigation of the incident.
Siban spoke up for the first time about the incident after feeling well enough to speak. He said Turgut and him were severely beaten by several members of the security forces before being thrown out of the helicopter.
Kurdish mushroom collectors beaten by security forces
Babacan said that a similar incident took place in the same province in June 2017 when a number of Kurdish villagers were tortured by security forces because of their perceived links to the PKK.
The three villagers - Cemal Aslan, Abdulselam Aslan, and Halil Aslan - were brutally beaten by security forces, according to images published by Turkish media. They were initially introduced as “terrorists” by pro-government media, but it soon became clear that PKK members had stolen their vehicle to launch an attack, rather than them launching the attack themselves.
Cemal’s wife told Human Rights Watch (HRW) in October of the same year that the family had been extremely worried when Cemal and his cousins failed to return home from collecting mushrooms. They went to inform police that the three men were missing, but soon began seeing their photographs circulating on social media.
"It is impossible to understand what kind of mentality this is,” said Babacan on Monday of the villager’s treatment.
“They took off the clothes of poor people and beat them, breaking the honor of the villagers. They later took their photographs and showed them to all Turkey. However, the truth was revealed: the tortured people were merely there to collect mushrooms. Okay, three years have passed but has anyone apologized? Have the perpetrators been prosecuted? No."
Two Kurdish villagers, Servet Turgut and Osman Siban, were allegedly thrown out of a helicopter by Turkish security forces during an operation against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in Van province on September 11. They were both severely injured. Turgut died on September 30 and Siban has not fully recovered yet.
Turkish authorities have not taken action against the perpetrators, angering many Kurds.
Babacan served as Erdogan’s deputy between 2009 and 2014. The politician, who later split from Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and formed his Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) in March 2020, criticized the reported torture of the Kurdish villagers.
“Two of our villagers were detained while they were in good health but Servet Turgut died at the age of 64 after failing to ensure the torture he experienced … and Osman Siban was severely injured due to the torture and ill treatment he experienced,” Babacan said during a DEVA conference in the eastern city of Van on Monday.
The politician, whose party appears to be courting Kurdish and AKP supporter votes, noted that he visited the family of Turgut to express his condolences and spoke on the phone with Siban.
Erdogan initiated new judicial “reform” on November 13 to improve basic human rights.
Babacan called on the government to start implementing reforms being deliberated on by prosecuting those responsible for the torturing of Siban and Turgut.
“I call on the government: as you know in the last week or 10 days, you are talking about law reforms. You are talking about a “human rights action plan.” I am openly calling on you to practice an example of the state of law by revealing the perpetrators [who tortured] Servet Turgut and Osman Siban and prosecute them,” said the party leader.
“If you fail to do what’s required, this nation will remember you as ‘the government who returned torture to this country,’’” he warned.
Amnesty International was among those local and international rights groups which called for the investigation of the incident.
Siban spoke up for the first time about the incident after feeling well enough to speak. He said Turgut and him were severely beaten by several members of the security forces before being thrown out of the helicopter.
Kurdish mushroom collectors beaten by security forces
Babacan said that a similar incident took place in the same province in June 2017 when a number of Kurdish villagers were tortured by security forces because of their perceived links to the PKK.
The three villagers - Cemal Aslan, Abdulselam Aslan, and Halil Aslan - were brutally beaten by security forces, according to images published by Turkish media. They were initially introduced as “terrorists” by pro-government media, but it soon became clear that PKK members had stolen their vehicle to launch an attack, rather than them launching the attack themselves.
Cemal’s wife told Human Rights Watch (HRW) in October of the same year that the family had been extremely worried when Cemal and his cousins failed to return home from collecting mushrooms. They went to inform police that the three men were missing, but soon began seeing their photographs circulating on social media.
"It is impossible to understand what kind of mentality this is,” said Babacan on Monday of the villager’s treatment.
“They took off the clothes of poor people and beat them, breaking the honor of the villagers. They later took their photographs and showed them to all Turkey. However, the truth was revealed: the tortured people were merely there to collect mushrooms. Okay, three years have passed but has anyone apologized? Have the perpetrators been prosecuted? No."
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