DİYARBAKIR - Noting that the pressure on the funerals ceremonies and deads of Kurds has increased, the İHD Diyarbakır Branch Chair Abdullah Zeytun said: "The fact that the body was delivered in a sack is the reflection of official ideology about Kurds."

 

The AKP government, which escalates the war by insisting on the deadlock in the Kurdish question, not only ignores the most basic human right, the right to life, but also interferes with the right to be laid to rest after death. The bones of Agit İpek, who died in 2017 in Dersim, was put in a box in 2020 and sent to her mother, Halise Aksoy, by cargo. While the condemnations of the delivering a body to his family by cargo continued, the body of Zindan Yeni, who lost his life in the conflict that broke out in 2021 in the rural area in Diyarbakır's Dicle district, was delivered to his father Hasan Yeni 8 months later in a container.

 

The latest example of the attacks on the dead of Kurds was the delivery of the bones of Hakan Arslan, who died in clashes during the curfew declared on December 2, 2015, in Sur district of Diyarbakır, to his father in a sack after 7 years.

 

Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır Branch President Abdullah Zeytun spoke about the attacks on the dead. Zeytun said that the deadlock of the Kurdish question has increased oppression and inhumane practices.

 

THE DEADLOCK OF THE KURDISH QUESTION

 

Stating that in the era of violence and conflict, especially public officials committed similar crimes against the dead, Zeytun said: “These crimes has all different reflections, like sending the body by cargo, delivering a body with a sack, taking the bodies of the people from the mass graves and bury them under the sidewalks, preventing people from attending funeral ceremonies. These crimes started to be committed in the violent atmosphere of 2015. All these, of course, are issues related to the deadlock of the Kurdish question and the state's use of the violence in the context of this question. All issues regarding the right to mourning, burial and respect for one's memory are practices brought about by the deadlock of the Kurdish question.

 

Speaking about the delivery of Hakan Arslan's body from the Diyarbakır Courthouse in a sack, Zeytun said: "Of course, it is an ethical issue as well as a legal issue. Their relatives have a demand for respect for the memory of their lost loved ones. The state must act in a way that considers the law of public officials and the sensitivity of social issues as a whole. It is also an obligation for public officials to respect the rights of those who have lost their relatives.”

 

REFLECTION OF OFFICIAL IDEOLOGY

 

Zeytun said: "While the officials should have 'empathy' for the father who lost his son, they revealed an image that reflects the thoughts of the official ideology about the Kurds. According to the national legislation, the releatives of the dead should be respected and when the releatives recieve their body in a sack, it cause them to suffer more and this way is definitely torture and ill-treatment."

 

'SOLIDARITY MUST GROW'

 

Noting that as the IHD they will continue to provide legal support for the families, Zeytun continued: “In general, defenders of rights and justice should be concerned about legal and ethical issues against this injustice, they can't discriminate about the identity of the dead. Regardless of who are involved in this injustice, we would like to express that, apart from the security and authoritarian policies that have been based on oppression and force, which have been increasing recently, rights defenders should especially show solidarity.”

 

MA / Eylem Akdağ