“Countryside is Full of Explosives”

Şemdinli province dwellers bid farewell to Behzat Özer, an 8 year old child who allegedly died while playing with explosives in the countryside. “Clashes are over, but the countryside is full of explosives. The area must be cleared,” Ismail Akbulut from IHD said.

Ayça Söylemez

* Photo credit: Fırat News Agency

A funeral has been held for Behzat Özer, an 8 year old child who allegedly died while playing with explosives in the countryside of Şemdinli, Hakkari province.

“According to Şemdinli Public Hospital officials, the child died due to an explosive that he mistook for a toy. The incident occured as he was playing with the explosive,” Human Right Association Hakkari province branch chair İsmail Akbulut told bianet.

Another similar incident took place yesterday around 4:30 pm local time, as Tayfur Can (11) was playing with explosives in Incesu, an area with 10 kilometers distance with Şemdinli province. While Can was hospitalized due to a shock, his health condition was reportedly stable.

Does inventory material count as random?

Akbulut urged officials to clear the area immediately as leftovers from the armed clashes between PKK and Turkish Army left many dead in the area.

“It was once more evident that those who live in the countryside have no life security. In addition to that, army inventory materials can’t be counted as random. This is also very meaningful. There are explosives throughout the region.”

Şemdinli Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation regarding the incident. However, Akbulut said similar investigation had previously been launched, yielding no results.

This morning, Özer’s funeral has been taken from Hakkari Public Hospital where it was transferred for autopsy. He was burried in İncesu region.

The funeral was attended by several people and local politicians including Şemdinli mayor Sedat Töre and BDP officials. (AS/BM)

* Click here to read the original article in Turkish.

child casualties explosives

Ayça Söylemez

[email protected]

all articles of the author

Boğaziçi Üniversitesi Felsefe Bölümü mezunu. Mimar Sinan Güzel Sanatlar Üniversitesi Sosyoloji bölümünde yüksek lisans yaptı. Marmara Üniversitesi İletişim Bilimleri’nde doktora yapıyor. Vatan, Akşam, HaberTürk ve Hürriyet gazetelerinin yazıişleri ve dış haberler bölümünde çalıştı. Güncel Hukuk dergisinde yazıları yayınlandı. BirGün’de Anonim adlı köşeyi yazıyor. 2011’den bu yana bianet’te İnsan Hakları Editörü.