Images of handcuffed suspects hurt Kurds, gov’t launches investigation

The handcuffing of the suspects in Diyarbakır while they were on their way to give testimony to public prosecutors also led to outrage among some segments of society. “They were trying to play with our minds, but with these pictures they played with our feelings, too. I felt so offended, like many Kurds,” Sezgin Tanrıkulu, the former chairman of Diyarbakır Bar Association told Today's Zaman. The Diyarbakır Bar is also planning to apply to the legal authorities for a crime report on the handcuffing.

According to the law, only suspects who are aggressive or are suspected of attempting to escape can be handcuff and according to Tanrıkulu handcuffing these people is a violation of the law.

After being detained they were brought to the courthouse in Diyarbakır to give their testimonies. Until then they were not handcuffed, but outside the court they were told to line up and the police tied their hands with plastic handcuffs.

There are also claims that the footage and pictures were taken by officials and distributed to the press but it is not clear who gave the order.

“If you look at the pictures, you can see that at one side there are no policemen, it is clearly a view deliberately prepared for provocation,” Tanrıkulu said.

He added that this image is extremely heartbreaking for any Kurd. “The people who presented this image tried to send the message to the nationalists that everything is under their control. They are in charge and while they are doing this, they did not take into account the devastation that this will lead to in the hearts of Kurds.”

Thirty-five suspects were handcuffed while on their way to testify in Diyarbakır last week.

The security forces last week carried out simultaneous raids against the Kurdish Communities Union/Turkey Council (KCK/TM), allegedly the urban arm of the PKK. Several suspected KCK/TM members were detained in Ankara, İstanbul, İzmir, Diyarbakır, Siirt, Hakkari, Tunceli, Batman, Şanlırfa, Şırnak and Van. Among them were mayors of several predominantly Kurdish cities including Batman Mayor Nejdet Atalay, Diyarbakır Kayapınar Mayor Zülküf Karatekin, Sur Mayor Abdullah Demirbaş, Cizre Mayor Aydın Budak, Suruç Mayor Ethem Şahin, Kızıltepe Mayor Ferhan Türk and Viranşehir Mayor Leyla Güven.

Human Rights Association Diyarbakır branch chairperson Muharrem Erbey, other former mayors and representatives of civil society organizations are among those who were arrested.

Over the weekend, in front of Diyarbakır Courthouse, several thousand people participated in a sit-down protest. Diyarbakır Mayor Osman Baydemir and some deputies of the defunct Democratic Society Party (DTP) also participated in the protest.

In Yüksekova, Cizre and Silopi there were protests which occasionally turned into violent clashes with the security forces.

Crisis goes on over defunct DTP deputies

Meanwhile, the crisis which erupted after the decision of the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court to authorize the use of police to bring some deputies of the defunct pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) to hearings this week might lead to an increase in the already existing tension.

The Ankara court on Oct. 2, decided that the former DTP parliamentary group deputy leader Selahattin Demirtaş, the party’s deputy chairwoman, Emine Ayna, and DTP İstanbul deputy Sebahat Tuncel should be brought to court for a judicial hearing slated for Dec. 29.

The same decision was also taken for Chairman of the DTP Ahmet Türk and deputy Aysel Tuğluk whose membership of Parliament has been removed by the Constitutional Court whose decision it was to close the DTP.

On several occasions in the past the deputies have underlined that they have immunity and they will not appear in court. But Tuğluk and Türk announced after the closure of the DTP that they will attend the hearing of the case against them in which they are accused of promoting the terrorist organization.

The other deputies who are expected to form a new parliamentary group this week are insistent that since they have immunity they will not attend the hearing.

Although the government announced after the decision of the Ankara court that it was ready for the constitutional changes necessary to prevent similar further crises, it did act.

According to the related articles of the Constitution, if a court case was opened against someone for crimes against the indivisibility of the country, the trials can continue even if the suspect is an elected as deputy. But the laws are not explicit as to which crimes are against the indivisibility of the state.