The National Defence Minister, Vecdi Gönül, announced that 408 incidents of suspicious deaths of soldiers were ascertained throughout the past five years. With this statement, Gönül responded to a resolution of questions submitted by Fatma Kurtulan, Peace and Democracy Party MP for the south-eastern city of Van. Gönül stated that the number of deaths declined compared to previous years.

In her resolution of questions submitted on 12 November 2010, BDP member Kurtulan pointed to the suspicious deaths of Kurdish soldiers such as Hasan Çakır, İdris Çiftçi, Erdi Alkan, Şaban Koçak, Sait Kızılkaya and Mehmet Çavdar. She had inquired about the kind of measures taken to clarify these deaths and about the number of soldiers who died between 2002 and 2010.

"Number of suicides decreased"

It was said in the response of the Ministry that the investigations related to those deaths were still being continued. As far as the death of Sait Kızılkaya is concerned, it was announced that the investigation carried out by the Military Prosecutor of the Gendarmerie Public Security Corps Command resulted in the decison against prosecution. The decision was in the process of notification, it was declared.

Moreover, the reply of the Ministry put forward that 408 soldiers of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) "died as the result of suicide" within the past five years. In the course of applied precautions, the number of suicide incidents in the TSK declined compared to previous years, it was said.

Soldiers take psycho-social tests

The reply indicated that reports related to accidents and suicide attempts that resulted in death were prepared "meticulously" and analyzed. The measures taken to prevent this sort of incidents were described as follows:

"Guidance and Counseling Centres are functioning in all military posts of the TSK. Conscripts are taking psycho-social test and are kept under control continuously. Soldiers who are under the risk of suicide are not being appointed to the duty of armed guards. Materials that could be used for a potential suicide such as weapons or drugs are being kept under control". (AS/EÖ/VK)