Turkish state not given HPG member body for 6 years 

2023-09-12 11:46:54


	 

	WAN - Stating that they have not been able to retrieve the body of his HPG brother Mercan Erkol, who lost her life in the Şenyayla region, for 6 years, Ercan Erkol said that his sister was not "orphan" and asked for the body to be given.

	 

	The body of HPG member Mercan Erkol (Beritan Tolhildan), who lost her life in the conflict that broke out on November 16, 2017 in the Şenyayla region, located between the Pasûr (Kulp) district of Amed and the borders of Muş, has not been held for 6 years despite numerous applications from his family. After HPG announced her identity information on March 17, 2019, father Hesin Erkol made attempts through the Diyarbakır Provincial Gendarmerie Command and the Kulp Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. Erkol gave a blood sample to Dicle University Hospital for DNA testing. After 4 months, the Provincial Gendarmerie Command called the family and said they could collect the body. The family, who went from Wan to Amed, went to Yeniköy Cemetery in Rezan (Bağlar) district to collect the body, but the prosecutor's office decided not to open the grave on the grounds that it was not known who the 3 bodies in the grave shown belonged to. Stating that they have been struggling to retrieve his sister's body for years, her brother Ercan Erkol said: “My brother is not alone. We don't want the orphans to remain in their graves."

	 

	OBSTACLE TO GIVE THE BODY

	 

	Stating that the prosecutor's office called the police and prevented the process during the opening of the grave, Erkol said: "While we were opening the grave, we received news from the prosecutor's office and were told that the body would not be given to us. When we asked why, he said, 'There are a few official documents that need to be taken care of. After these are resolved, the body will be delivered to you.' We said 'ok'. The July 15 public holiday intervened. Afterwards, we asked and made applications many times, but our requests were inconclusive. Different excuses were produced each time. Finally, we were told that a new DNA test would be done because body integrity could not be ensured."

	 

	DNA TEST THAT HAS NEVER BEEN ENDED FOR YEARS

	 

	Stating that they have been waiting for the DNA test to be concluded for years, Erkol said: “As a family, we made individual applications, but we did not get any results. This situation has turned into a systematic torture against the family. Doesn't DNA result every 6 years? It is not something that would take this long for a DNA test to be completed. Even though we went back and forth many times, it was inconclusive. They kept us waiting with the same excuses. The state put 3 bodies in a cemetery. Haven't these been separated from each other for 6 years? As a result, we gave our DNA. This should have been resolved now, but we are still waiting."

	 

	THE POLICY OF INTIMIDATION

	 

	Emphasizing that a policy of intimidation is being carried out on families through funerals, Erkol said: “These policies will be fruitless. These policies will remain fruitless, as was the case at the body of friend Yılmaz Uzun in the near future. There is nothing they haven't done for our body over the years. They bring all kinds of things to our bodies. They cannot achieve any success in this respect. Before Yılmaz, the bodies of two friends were delivered to their families in similar boxes. But again, the people protected their body without compromising their stance. Therefore, they were inconclusive and could not achieve any success.”

	 

	MA / Berivan Kutlu