Turkish soldiers beat Kurdish villagers in Hakkari: Sources

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Villagers have accused Turkish border guards of beating up and arresting four young Kurdish men in Turkey’s southeast province of Hakkari (Colemerg) on Tuesday.

Cebar Tas from Navberojan (Yesilova) town told Rudaw English that four villagers, aged 16 to 20, had taken their livestock to the outskirts of their village, to an area where they often graze their animals near the Kurdistan Region border. While there, a group of soldiers approached them and began beating them for unknown reasons. 

“Hearing their cries, the villagers rushed to their aid and rescued them. After realising that their act was being filmed, the soldiers stopped beating them,” Tas, who is a cousin of the four victims, told Rudaw English.

Footage submitted to Rudaw English appears to show six soldiers standing over a number of people who are lying on the ground. When the soldiers realise they are being filmed, they gesture at the person holding the camera to stop.

The villagers were able to rescue the four men and took them to a medical center to be examined by a health professional, but the soldiers returned and arrested all four. They are currently being held at a local military post, according to Tas, whose son was briefly arrested in 2021 on the charge of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a video on social media.   

Turkish authorities have not commented on the incident. Rudaw English reached out to the governor’s office for comment.

An eyewitness spoke to Rudaw English on the condition of anonymity. He said that the incident took place at dawn.

“When their cousins tried to rescue them, the soldiers shot near their feet and used tear gas to disperse them,” he said.

This is the second time in a week that soldiers have arrested people from the village. Three days earlier, three other villagers were beaten and arrested by soldiers, again for unknown reasons, according to the eyewitness.

“This is not a prohibited area but only 100 metres away from the village,” said the eyewitness. 

When Turkish forces carry out operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), they routinely impose curfews and prohibit people from entering certain zones. There are currently no known military operations ongoing in the area near the village.

In footage seen by Rudaw English, one of the villagers has a bleeding wound in his side. And a photo submitted shows an image of jailed Kurdish politician Selahattin Demirtas on a phone case. His face in the image has been scratched out.

Rudaw English could not independently verify the authenticity of the footage.

Turkish security forces have a history of harassing and abusing Kurds, often with impunity as reported earlier this year by Al Monitor.  

In 2020, Turkish soldiers allegedly tortured two Kurdish men, Osman Siban and Servet Turgut, in Van province and threw them out of a helicopter. Turgut died of his injuries and Siban was accused of being a member of a terrorist organisation. Human Rights Watch in its 2022 report said that no progress was made in their case.  

“There was little evidence to suggest prosecutors made progress in investigating the rising allegations of torture and ill-treatment in police custody and prison reported over the past five years. Few such allegations result in prosecution of the security forces, and a pervasive culture of impunity persists,” added the damning report, highlighting the impunity that Turkish police operate with.

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