Life sentences for Turkish border guards convicted of torturing, killing Syrian refugees

Four Turkish border guards were given life sentences on Thursday for the torture of nine Syrian migrants who had entered the country to seek asylum, two of whom died from their injuries.

The incident took place on March 11, 2023, when the Turkish border police arrested nine Syrians attempting to cross the Syria-Turkey border into Hatay province.

In photographs of the refugees taken immediately following their arrest, the investigators into the case found that they had borne no signs of beatings at that point.

According to testimony from the survivors as well as from several Turkish police officers, the Syrians were then taken to a tent, where officers began beating them with sticks and iron rods, urinated on their eyes, and forced them to drink diesel.

According to accounts in Turkish media, the torture lasted around two and a half hours, and led to the death of Abdul Razzaq al-Qastal, 18, and Abdul Sattar al-Hajjar, 19.

The public prosecutor investigating the case discovered that al-Hajjar's body had been buried in the scrap metal section of the police station, whereas al-Qastal's body was found dumped at the Bab al-Hawa Turkey-Syria crossing the day after his death. Both bodies bore signs of severe torture.

In the course of the investigation into the killings, four other Syrians filed complaints against the Turkish border officers.

Muhammad al-Muhammad, one of those tortured, told the public prosecution in the Reyhanli district: "After we were arrested, we were beaten by two soldiers on the way to the station. We were taken to a place surrounded by wire, and our heads were placed between the rungs of a wooden ladder. Then a group of about twenty soldiers started beating us with sticks and cables."

He added: "After that, they put us in a cage, and kept coming to beat us. During that time they brought along another man, who was between 55 and 6o years old, and they beat him as well, before taking our clothes and pouring buckets of water over us."

He says one of the Syrians nearly fainted, and was taken away by the Turkish officers, and they heard him shouting, 'don't give me diesel!'

"Then they wanted to take us out of the cage and put us in a car that had arrived in front of the police station building. But the person next to me couldn't get up. They grabbed his arm and dragged him into the car. Although we tried to get him to talk, he didn't respond," he explained.

Turkish border guard "M.S.Y." testified that "eight Syrian migrants were arrested that day, as well as another Syrian man, 55-60 years old, with white hair and a beard".

He said he was "resting" when he was ordered to bring a bottle of water to the company commander, Mehmet Menekse.

"When I filled it and went over, there were seven people lying on the ground and one of them was sitting. There was also an elderly Syrian man in the back of a car."

"Standing round the migrants were Mehmet Menekse, Mursel Ceylan, Mehmet Surucu, and Cihangir Sen. Menekse was holding a baton and the others were holding wooden and iron rods about a metre long. One of the migrants was unconscious, and I noticed that the one sitting was also about to faint," he added.

"On the orders of Cihangir Sen and Mehmet Menekse, we poured water on the unconscious people and tried to revive them. Then, on their orders again, Sergeant Oktay and I left the area. As we were leaving, other soldiers continued beating the Syrians. The next morning, I heard that one of the migrants had died," he explained.

Following the investigations, 22 individuals were tried. In the final court session held on Thursday, four of them were sentenced to two life sentences: Cihangir Sen, Muhammed Menekse, Muhammed Surucu, and Mursel Ceylan.

The court also sentenced four other individuals to seven and a half years in prison, acquitted 11 others, and imprisoned three others on charges of concealing the crime.

Millions of Syrians fled to Turkey after the Syrian conflict broke out in 2011, with the country eventually hosting a Syrian refugee population of around 3.5 million.

As the Syrian conflict progressed, Turkey saw increasing xenophobia and racism towards Syrians, with politicians scapegoating the refugees for the country's economic woes.

After the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, tens of thousands of Syrians are believed to have returned to their country from Turkey.