"Why Did they not Think of Villagers?"

The Military Electronics Industry (ASELSAN) forwarded their report about the Heron images of the Uludere incident to the Uludere sub-commission as part of the Parliamentary Human Rights Research Commission. ASELSAN is a Turkish cooperation producing defence electronic systems and military radios for the Turkish army.

34 civilians from the villages of Gülyzaı (Bujeh) and Ortasu (Roboski) were killed in a military aerial strike on 28 December 2011 in the Uludere district (south-eastern province of Şırnak). The members of the Uludere sub-commission had viewed the images of the Heron drones together with experts of ASELSAN in February.

The ten-page report was now obtained by the commission members.

Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Ankara MP Levent Gök said in a statement made to bianet that the contents of the ASELSAN report matched with their own interpretations of the images.

After the commission had watched the Heron images, Gök had stated "Even with the naked eye it is clear that [these people] were smugglers".

"The information we previously shared with the public was confirmed by the technical report. It is written in the report that pack animals and people could be seen".

"Considering the ASELSAN report, the failure of not to evaluate the people who were going from Turkey to Iraq as people involved in cross-border trade remains as a severe mistake. The movements were determined very clearly and still it resulted in such a disaster. This reveals that they died while they were clearly visible".

Gök said that the information conveyed by the ALSELSAN report was also going to be included in the report to be prepared by the commission. The decision whether to announce the ASELSAN report to the public was going to be given by the president of the commission, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) Sakarya MP Ayhan Sefer Üstün, Gök indicated.

Gök reported that the Heron images were broken down minute by minute in the ASELSAN report.

"It was clearly identified that the villagers crossed the border from Turkey to Iraq and returned. It is a well-known matter of fact that villagers do cross-border trading in that region and the images show pack animals. So why were these people not considered villagers?"

In February, the commission watched a total of nine hours of images. They described the course of events as follows:

17.20: Four vehicles move from Iraq towards Turkey. The vehicles gather at the valley between the Haftanin and Kutalma streams.

18.25: The first crowded group of smugglers comes from the village and walks towards the meeting point. This is the first image of the villagers.

18.55: The third crowded group of villagers comes.

19.16: The first group has loaded goods and starts returning the way they came towards the Turkish border.

19.40: The groups heading for the Turkish border start to gather at a certain point.

They wait close to the border until 21.24 hrs. This means that there was artillery fire in the meantime.

21.36: The Heron drone shows a point to the planes with a laser spot.

21.36: The first bomb is thrown.

21.43: The second bomb is thrown.

22.04: The third bomb is thrown.

22.24: Another group following the others is being bombed.

22.45: People hurry from the village towards the scene of incident.

23.00: The villagers reach the scene of incident.

The Uludere report prepared by the ASELAN experts claims that the group of people returning to Turkey gathered at 21.03 hrs and waited on the spot. It is furthermore said that the bombing started at 21.39 hrs. (AS)