3 Suspicious Deaths of Soldiers in 5 Days

Gendarmerie Commando Private Celal Kızılkan reportedly died of a stray bullet on 12 September. Kızılkan was on duty at the Squad Command of the Dağpınar Gendarmerie Public Order Commando as part of the Provincial Gendarmerie Command in Kars (north-eastern Anatolia). His unit carries out operational activities in Sarıkamış.

As reported by Radikal newspaper, the soldier died under suspicious circumstances. His body was first taken to the Regional Training and Research Hospital in Erzurum for an autopsy and transferred to the Mareşal Çakmak Military Hospital later on. The body was then brought to the family of the deceased soldier in Konya Ereğli.

The Sarıkamış Military Prosecution launched a judicial and administrative investigation into the circumstances of Kızılkan's death.

Families suspicious

The news about Kızılkan's death caused by a "stray bullet" came five days after it was announced that soldier Sedat Durgun died from a stray bullet in Bitlis (7 Septeber) and soldier Eren Özel committed suicide at his military post in Maraş (8 September).

Doubts about the deaths of soldiers at military posts have recently increased upon the emergence of the voice record of a confession made by former Chief of General Staff Işık Koşaner. He apparently said "We shot one of our soldiers into the forehead".

The family of soldier Özel said that they would not approve of the Turkish flag on their son's coffin until the reasons for his death would have been clarified. They returned the flag to the military officials.

"Military prosecutors should withdraw"

bianet talked to the General President of the Human Rights Association (İHD), Öztürk Türkdoğan, about the suspicious deaths of three soldiers in five days. Türkdoğan said that the families of Sedat Durgun in Bitlis and Eren Özel in Maraş applied to the local İHD branches.

The İHD president indicated that over the past years they had been carrying out various endeavours related to suspicious deaths of soldiers in military posts. They supported the families of the deceased during the judicial process, for example.

Türkdoğan underlined that first of all military prosecutors had to withdraw from the judicial process in order to shed light on this sort of incidents. He indicated that it was impossible to take any steps as long as the investigations were being carried out by military prosecutors.

Military prosecutors closed the file by either claiming a "stray bullet" in case the perpetrator was known or otherwise by stating "suicide" rather than investigating the suspicious deaths, Türkdoğan criticized. He stressed that these cases had to be handled by civil courts.

"Dependant on political atmosphere"

Türkdoğan drew attention to the fact that the number of suspicious deaths increased during certain periods and decreased at other times. In his opinion, this development is directly related to the current political atmosphere in the country.

The İHD President said that in general the dead soldiers were Kurds and young anti-militarist people. Türkdoğan urged for establishing a parliamentary research commission in order to clarify these deaths. He also claimed that deputies had to make a bigger effort for the young people's right to life. (EKN/VK)