Death of Hacı Lokman Birlik

Hacı Lokman Birlik was killed by gunfire on the 2nd or 3rd of October 2015. His dead body was tied to an armored police vehicle and dragged through the streets of Şırnak, Turkey. The Turkish police filmed the event and shared it on social media. The Turkish Ministry of the Interior confirmed the dragging of the dead body, and justified the action by saying that authorities were concerned that a bomb may have been attached to the body.

Victim

Hacı Lokman Birlik was a brother-in-law of Leyla Birlik, an MP for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).[1][2][3] He had produced the short movie "Bark" (in which he was also an actor) with support of the Municipality of Sirnak and the Youth Working Group of Sirnak.[4] The film is about the indecision Kurdish people go through when they have to decide between Kurdish rebellion or obedience towards the policies of the Turkish Government.[4]

Death

There are conflicting reports about how Birlik died.[5] Reports say he died on the 2nd[6][7] or 3rd of October 2015.[8][9] Turkish officials such as the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu[9] claim he was shot while attacking the police with a rocket launcher.[10][9] DIHA reported Birlik was shot by the police when he was trying to take care of a wound he had;[11] the HDP MP Ferhat Encü reasoned similarly.[9] According to an autopsy report,[12][8][13] he was shot twenty-eight times.[8][13] Afterwards his body was tied from the neck[11] to an armored police vehicle type scorpion[14][15][7] and dragged through the streets of Sirnak.[13][9][5] Images of Birlik being dragged were uploaded to the social media website Twitter.[7] When the images appeared on social media, a debate ensued between those who claimed the images were photoshopped and those who deemed them to be genuine images.[11]

The pro-AKP newspaper Sabah claimed the dragging of a body was a universally acceptable procedure to verify whether a bomb was attached to the body.[11] Later a video which showed the dragging of Birlik surfaced, which was filmed from inside the vehicle: slurs and insults could be heard. Deniz Yücel of the German newspaper Die Welt assumed Birlik was really dragged behind an armored police car.[11] Later, the Turkish Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the dragging of the dead body occurred: They justified the dragging by explaining police assumed the body had a bomb attached to it.[2][16]

Reactions

The images caused a public outcry by the politicians of the HDP and also the Government.[10] Selahattin Demirtaş, the Co-Chair of the HDP at the time, uploaded a photograph of the dragging of Hacı Birlik Lokman the next day on Twitter, demanding the people should not forget what they see.[2][17][3]

In October 2020, HDP MP Nuran İmir demanded an answer from the Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül and questioned the fact that while several of the officers involved in the police operations in Sirnak were charged for being a member of the Gülen Movement, there were none being investigated for the death of Birlik.[18]

Hacı Murad Dinçer, the Turkish police officer in charge of the Anti Terror unit in Sirnak at the time of Birliks death, received an award from the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his services in Sirnak[19][20][21] in 2018.[22][20] Dinçer also applied to be a candidate for the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the Justice and Development Party (AKP).[23][24][20]

Investigation and prosecution

On 5 October 2015 the Ministry of the Interior initiated an investigation whether the events depicted in the photo took place in Sirnak.[14] By 7 October 2015, the HDP issued complaints against the Minister of the Interior Selamik Altinok and the Governor and the police chief of Sirnak[25] while Demirtaş demanded Altinok to step down.[26] On the 12 October Turkish officials claimed two of the involved officers were dismissed,[27][16] but according to Kurdish sources, they were are still on duty in 2018, but in another location.[28] The family of Birlik also pressed charges against the police officer who they deemed responsible for having ordered the dragging of their relative.[21][19] By 2020 the investigation was focused on the fact that the images were uploaded on social media. Six different prosecutors have not begun an investigation into the death of Hacı Lokman Birlik, the lawyer representing him applied to the Constitutional Court.[18]

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made assurances in an interview with Habertürk TV, that a investigation would be conducted not into the incident itself, but how the images were perceived by the international media.[17][29]

Internet access on news reporting of the event of more than one hundred outlets was prohibited by several courts. BirGün (an newspaper) appealed the decision at the Turkish Criminal Judgeship of Peace in Gölbasi in 2015, and his case was dismissed.[30] Then Birgün appealed at the Constitutional Court: in 2019 the court ruled Birgün's rights of freedom of expression were violated.[31][30]

Prosecution of Hacı Lokman Birlik's family members

The father of the Hacı Lokman was later prosecuted for being a member of a terrorist organization at a court in Sirnak but he was acquitted.[32] The prosecution appealed the verdict at a court in Diyarbakir, which recognized that Hasan Birlik waved a flag with the Kurdish colors and shouted "Martyrs don't die" at his son's funeral. This was seen as an act of "terrorist propaganda".[32] His sister-in-law Leyla Birlik was also prosecuted for being a member of a terrorist organization due to her attendance at the funeral[10] and in 2018 left Turkey into exile.[33] The prosecution deemed Hacı Lokman Birlik a member of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).[32]

See also

References
  1. Bejjani, Elias (30 October 2015). "Uzay Bulut: Turkey: Kurds Threatened Before Elect/Burak Bekdil: What Turkey's Elections Will NOT Change". Elias Bejjani News. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  2. "Türkische Polizei soll Leiche geschändet haben". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  3. Mackey, Robert (5 October 2015). "Turkey to Investigate Images of Dead Kurdish Man Being Dragged". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  4. Şimşek, Bahar (2021), Gunes, Cengiz; Bozarslan, Hamit; Yadirgi, Veli (eds.), "A Cinematography of Kurdishness: Identity, Industry and Resistance", The Cambridge History of the Kurds, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 770, ISBN 978-1-108-47335-4, archived from the original on 25 April 2022, retrieved 20 March 2022
  5. Carney, Josh (2018). "Resur(e)recting a Spectacular Hero: Diriliş Ertuğrul, Necropolitics, and Popular Culture in Turkey". Review of Middle East Studies. 52 (1): 111. doi:10.1017/rms.2018.6. ISSN 2151-3481. JSTOR 26478485. S2CID 158269519. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  6. IBTimes (4 October 2015). "Turkey: Image of Kurdish man's body being dragged through streets by Turkish soldiers goes viral [PHOTOS+ VIDEO]". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  7. Kök, Mümtaz Murat (2016). "Foucault comes to Bakur: Sovereign Power and collective punishment" (PDF). Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation (2): 18. doi:10.12893/gjcpi.2016.2.3. ISSN 2283-7949. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. Engelliweb 2019: An Iceberg of unseen Internet Censorship in Turkey (PDF). August 2020. p. 21. ISBN 978-605-69446-3-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  9. "Who was the man Turkish police dragged through the streets?". The Observers - France 24. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  10. Zaman, Amberin (27 July 2017). "Turkish parliament expels more pro-Kurdish lawmakers in absentia - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  11. Yücel, Deniz (5 October 2015). "Schändung: Foto von Leiche an Polizeiauto schockt die Türkei". Die Welt (in German). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. "Gedenken an Hacı Lokman Birlik". Firat News Agency (in German). Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  13. "Situation sécuritaire dans la province de Sirnak entre 2011 – 2019" (PDF). Ofpra. 27 August 2019. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  14. "Investigation Against that Photo by Ministry". Bianet. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  15. Uludag, Alican (14 June 2016). "Hacı Birlik'i sürükleyen polise ödül gibi ceza". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  16. "Interior Ministry: Two staff suspended over dragging of dead body in Şırnak - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  17. "Turkey leader condemns video of 'dead Kurdish militant dragged by neck'". The Guardian. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  18. Bişkin, Hacı (10 April 2020). "Lawyer takes case of Kurdish man dragged behind armored vehicle to top court after 5 year impasse". Gazete Duvar. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  19. "Erdogan's Torture Squads" (PDF). Advocates of Silenced Turkey. January 2021. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  20. "Türkei: Kriegsverbrecher Kandidat für AKP". Firat News Agency (in German). 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  21. "Turkish court overturns acquittal of Kurdish man charged for attending son's funeral". Ahval. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  22. "Hacı Lokman Birlik'in cenazesini sürükleten polis müdürü AKP'den aday adayı oldu". Sendika (in Turkish). 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  23. "Kurdish man in Turkey faces terror charges for attending his son's funeral | Ahval". Ahval. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  24. "AKP's controversial presumptive candidates | Ahval". 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  25. "HDP files complaint over dragging of dead body in Şırnak - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  26. "Images of Dead Kurdish Militant 'Dragged by Turkish Police' Spark Outrage". NDTV. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  27. "Davutoğlu: Two Police Officers Dragging Dead Body of Lokman Birlik in Şırnak Relieved of Duty". Bianet. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  28. "Noch immer keine Anklage". Yeni Özgür Politika (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  29. "Turkish Authorities Drag Body of Kurdish Man, HDP Files Complaint". The Armenian Weekly. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  30. "End of news: Internet censorship in Turkey" (PDF). Freewebturkey. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 December 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  31. Engelliweb 2019 pp.21–22
  32. "Police victim's father to be tried over 'terrorism' after court overturns acquittal ruling in Turkey's Şırnak". Gazete Duvar. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  33. "Ex-Kurdish Party MP Seeks Asylum in Greece". Voice of America. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 March 2022.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.