Turkish police allegedly 'execute 4 unarmed Kurdish youths'

A number of Kurdish activists on Saturday have claimed that Turkish forces 'executed' four unarmed youths during a raid in south-east Turkey.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

04 December, 2016

Armed Turkish forces have killed dozens of suspected PKK members since the July coup [AFP]

Activists have claimed that Turkish forces "executed" four unarmed youths during an operation in the country's south-east, after they had were suspected of being members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which is designated as a terrorist organisation.

Turkish authorities reported that armed police officers killed four people in a gunfight at 9.30pm on Saturday night in the Kurdish town of Viransehir.

"Following intelligence received of a terrorist base at a house in the mountains near Viransehir, four terrorists were killed, including two women, were arrested," the governor of Sanliurfa province originally said in a statement.

This statement was later changed after it emerged that the four detainees, including the home owner Erol Ozgezer, had been killed.

Independent news site ANF News reported that four unarmed young people were "executed" by police during a raid.

The New Arab has seen highly graphic photographs that allegedly show the four victims of the raid, but it has not been able to verify the photographs.

Turkish news websites reported the incident in almost identical terms.

Dozens of journalists have been detained in Turkey under the state of emergency in the wake of the July 15 failed coup.

Critics say the scope of the crackdown goes far beyond measures against the suspected coup plotters and is targeting any critic of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

According to the Platform for Independent Journalism website, there are now 145 journalists behind bars in Turkey, which is ranked 151st of 180 countries in the 2016 World Press Freedom index published by Reporters Without Borders.

Ten staff from the anti-Erdogan Cumhuriyet daily were arrested last this month, causing an international outcry.

The PKK has waged a 32-year insurgency against the Turkish state, which has left nearly 40,000 dead since 1984.

The group is proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the US and the EU.

Since the collapse of a two-and-a-half-year ceasefire in July 2015, more than 600 security forces and 7,000 PKK militants have been killed, according to Anadolu.

Over the past 15 months, attacks on the Turkish security forces have continued on an almost daily basis as the government has pressed military operations against the PKK.