 |
Diyarbakır family devastated by death of daughter, lack of official response
“My Ceylan was torn to pieces. Why was my child killed for no reason? Who is going to answer for this?” asked the mother of 14-year-old Ceylan Önkol, as quoted by the Taraf daily.
Önkol's brother Rıfat said she was out in a bushy area to gather leaves for the sheep she was watching but was suddenly hit by a mortar shell that apparently came from a higher location. The only place located on higher ground than the village is a military outpost overlooking the area.
Rıfat Önkol said they found pieces of Ceylan's body on branches of trees and waited for six hours for the arrival of a doctor and prosecutor, but no one showed up. He said they also called several deputies and eventually found out that officials fear for their safety in the region and avoid travel in the area. Officials asked the family to bring the body of the girl to the nearby Abalı police station. The family found a casket in another village and put Ceylan's remains inside a blanket in the casket to take to the police station in Bingöl province.
Şenlik was evacuated in 1993 when the presence of the terrorist Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in the area became more prominent. Several families were later allowed to return, including the Önkol family. Ceylan Önkol was a student who helped her family, which is involved in stockbreeding.
As quoted by the Taraf daily, Serdar Çelebi, an official from the Diyarbakır branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), said they found no traces of a mine explosion in the area where the girl was killed.
“There are claims the shell came from the Tapantepe post on the Bingöl-Diyarbakır border. This post overlooks the area where the incident happened. As officials did not go to the scene of the event, a necessary investigation has not been carried out to find those responsible,” Taraf quoted him as saying.
A special prosecutor is expected to conduct investigations that involve acts of terrorism.
In another incident on July 19, 2008, four people died in the nearby Yayla village but the incident remains unsolved.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| BERİL DEDEOĞLU |  |
||
| Yemen and beyond | |||
| ABDULLAH BOZKURT |  |
||
| Turkey and Mexico: Distant yet so close | |||
| ABDÜLHAMİT BİLİCİ |  |
||
| Google kidnaps Gül! | |||
| İHSAN YILMAZ |  |
||
| The Egyptian elections, Islam and Islamists | |||
| MARKAR ESAYAN |  |
||
| There is need for a new initiative | |||
| EMRE USLU |  |
||
| Operational errors | |||
| HASAN KANBOLAT |  |
||
| Are Russian tourists being discouraged from visiting Turkey? | |||
| CHARLOTTE MCPHERSON |  |
||
| The modern ‘Great Game’: women’s role and status | |||
| KLAUS JURGENS |  |
||
| Back to the ’80s | |||
| KATHY HAMILTON |  |
||
| Random acts of violence | |||
| MERVE BÜŞRA ÖZTÜRK |  |
||
| Adding insult to injury in Uludere | |||
| NICOLE POPE |  |
||
| Shifting responsibility | |||
| YAVUZ BAYDAR |  |
||
| ‘Errorism’ | |||
| ORHAN MİROĞLU |  |
||
| ‘Strategic vision’ | |||
| ORHAN KEMAL CENGİZ |  |
||
| Turkey through Amnesty International’s eyes | |||
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
