HAKKARİ - A "confidentiality" decision was taken in the investigation launched into the incident in Hakkari on September 20, in which two border traders from Iran lost their lives as a result of fired opened from a helicopter.

 

Two border traders Sozdar Ehmedî (19) ile Elişan Ehmedî (16) have lost their lives as a result of the fire opened from a helicopter belonging toTurkish Armed Forces(TSK). Nine border traders taken into custody by the soldiers that day was released after 3 days.

 

Human Rights Association (İHD) Hakkari Branch Manager Attorney Eren Baskin explained the details of the incident on the border line. Stating that the attacks against border traders along the border or the citizens living in the region have now reached the level of a massacre, Baskin stated that the main reason for this is the "policy of impunity".

 

'THESE ATTACKS CAN BE DEFINED AS A MASSACRE'

 

Baskin said, “Such massacres are taking place in the region because no criminal action is taken against the perpetrators. Border trader groups are actually very young people who make a living by smuggling stuff like sugar and tea. People have to do this job in order to stay alive and feed their families. The undeveloped trade in that region and the pressure exerted by the states on people force them to do this job. Unfortunately, these attacks can now be defined as a massacre."

 

OUR ATTEMPTS WERE BLOCKED

 

Attorney Baskin stated that in the last incident at the border, all their attempts regarding the situation of other border traders who were detained and sent to their countries were blocked. Stating that they were prevented from accessing the file due to the "privacy decision" on the file, regarding the investigation launched by the Prosecutor's Office, Baskin said, "After our attempts, we encountered a practice that we are very used to. With the ban on lawyers and the decision of privacy, we were prevented from learning how the situation was happened and we were prevented from conveying it to the public."

 

Baskin stated that they could neither see the bodies of the murdered border traders nor know what actions were taken regarding those detained at the border. Such violations of rights at the border have been increasing in recent years. The main reason for this is the result of the policy of impunity. The perpetrators of these crimes believe that they can kill anyone and get away with it. But it should be known that whoever is behind these violations of rights will definitely be prosecuted one day.”

 

THE REGION WAS BOMBED

 

Attorney Baskın also noted that the bodies of the killed border traders were kept under the sun for hours at the border. Baskin continued: “So there is a situation where there is no respect for the dead. Seeing that the family members who heard about the incident were trying to cross over to Turkey and retrieve the bodies, the authorities tried to prevent the families from entering the area by shooting from howitzers. The bodies of the killed border traders are thrown into a trailer and brought to the hospital. These are very serious allegations. This file becomes a file in which international law and public conscience are totally destroyed. Those killed at the border have nothing to do with numbers and figures. What happened is exactly the same as the Roboski massacre.”

 

DEATH AT THE BORDER ON A DAILY BASIS

 

Stressing that in societies where justice is settled, those people should be detained and legal action should be taken instead of killing them, Baskin said, “But unfortunately, instead of doing this, our people are killed every day in Hakkari. People are killed without warning, especially in villages close to the border. Unfortunately, the main reason why this is the case is the policy of impunity."