Family claims daughter killed during army target practice

Speaking to the Taraf daily on Thursday, Remzi Şan and Davut Şan, Canan’s uncles, said the stray bullet that killed Canan came from the Hacıbekir Barracks, which are close to the picnic area. Stating that some soldiers were engaged in target practice on the day Canan was killed, they said there was no warning that soldiers would be on target practice that day. “Our lives are not safe. The government should protect its citizens; however, it kills people,” they said, underlining that they want the government to investigate the incident.

Saldık was buried in a cemetery in Van on Thursday following an autopsy. The military prosecutor’s office and the Van chief public prosecutor’s office have launched an investigation into the event upon the family’s allegations.

In a similar incident, a 14-year-old girl, Ceylan Önkol, was killed in an explosion on Sept. 28, 2009, while tending sheep in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. Following Önkol’s death, allegations surfaced that a military mortar shell had caused the tragedy. The General Staff, however, denied the claim. A criminal report released in October found the girl responsible for her own death. The report said she had accidentally detonated an unexploded grenade previously launched by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) while playing with it.