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More children fall victim to unexploded ordnance in Van
The Van Governor’s Office on Tuesday announced that an investigation has been launched into the incident.
There was profound grief at Akyürek’s school yesterday. His classmates at the 3 Nisan Primary School in Özalp laid flowers and pictures of Akyürek on his desk.
Unexploded grenades and other ordnance in the rural areas of southeastern Turkey, placed or forgotten by both the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and terrorists, are a major cause of death in the region.
The recent explosion recalled the tragic death of a young girl who was killed in an explosion on Sept. 28, 2009 in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Ceylan Önkol, 14, was killed while tending sheep. Her family claimed the explosion was caused by a military mortar shell. A criminal report, however, found that Önkol had accidentally detonated an unexploded grenade previously launched by the TSK.
According to data compiled by the Human Rights Association (İHD), unexploded ordnance killed 56 civilians in the Southeast in 2008 and 2009 and left 132 others disabled.
İHD Diyarbakır branch President Muharrem Erbey has described the unexploded munitions left in the region as a “crime against humanity” and called on authorities to clear the ordnance.
The recent incident also brought the name of the military barracks involved in the explosion to discussion. The name of the Özalp 3rd Border Battalion Barracks was changed to “Gen. Mustafa Muğlalı Military Barracks” in 2006. Gen. Muğlalı was convicted of killing 33 Kurds who crossed the Turkish border in 1943. He was given 20 years in prison and died in jail.
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