Following Önkol's death, allegations surfaced that a military mortar shell had caused the girl's death. The General Staff, however, denied the claims. Later, a criminal report released on Monday found the girl responsible for her own death.
The report noted that she had accidentally detonated an unexploded grenade previously launched by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) while playing with it. However, the report did not remove all doubt about the girl's death. “Ceylan was allegedly killed by a mortar shell. Who threw that mortar shell or whatever it was? How did Ceylan die? What is military ordnance doing in a settled area? Why didn't anyone take precautions?” were among the questions asked by civil society organizations, which remain unconvinced by explanations regarding Önkol's death.
A signature campaign seeking the clarification of circumstances surrounding Önkol's death was begun just after the tragic death of the girl and led by the Van Women's Association (VAKAD). Thus far, 1,221 signatures have been collected. The campaign is supported by 44 civil society organizations, including the Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR)-New Ways and women's rights group the Flying Broom. These organizations wrote a letter and sent it to President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Chief of General Staff Gen. İlker Başbuğ as well as all ministers and political party leaders. Demanding answers to questions looming over Önkol's death, the letter underlines that it is the responsibility of the state to shed light on Önkol's death. “The silence of the state and those claimed to be responsible for her death scares us,” read the letter.
Speaking to Today's Zaman, campaign coordinator Zozan Özgökçe drew attention to the fact that no one from the state or the military has even expressed to Ceylan's family their condolences. In a show of her support for the government's democratic initiative to settle Turkey's long-standing Kurdish issue, she also said the initiative means not killing another Ceylan.
DTP members to file complaint against embattled prosecutor
A group pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) members, who held a demonstration yesterday in İstanbul's Taksim Square to protest the authorities' reluctance to immediately perform their duties regarding Önkol's death, announced that they plan to file a criminal complaint against the prosecutor, who avoided traveling to the scene on the day of the incident out of fear for his safety. The group's spokesperson, lawyer Eren Keskin, said they traveled to the village Önkol died in to support her family and encountered no situation threatening their safety.
