ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Families of two young Kurdish men from Erbil province who were detained by the Turkish army on Friday inside the Kurdistan Region of Iraq claim both young men were subjected to inhumane treatment by the Turkish army and kept half naked in freezing temperatures for hours.
Akram Khalil Zikri, 20, and Zedan Nabi Mustafa,18, from Dayla village in Sidakan sub-district were attending to their horses when they entered an area that the Turkish army considers a "conflict zone" and were immediately detained by the Turkish soldiers in the morning, family told Rudaw on Saturday.
The two young men who are cousins were released late Tuesday after spending five days in Turkish army detention. Turkish army has established dozens of outposts deep inside Iraqi territory, including the Kurdistan Region, on the pretext of fighting the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) fighters.
A close relative both villagers Rudaw English on the condition of anonymity late Wednesday that its relatives were left in freezing temperatures in the shade while stripped to their underwear in a Turkish military base in Rubarok (Derecik) district in Turkey’s Kurdish-populated Hakkari province from dawn to dusk.
“They said that they were in a terrible condition. They also said that they were put in the snow with bare feet, preventing them from being exposed to sun. All their clothes were taken off except for underwear from 7am to dusk. They were put under the shadow of trees,” the source added, citing one of the young men.
The cousins were not handcuffed when in the snow but soldiers were observing them closely, according to the source who said that soldiers did not seem to have believed the men’s account that they were trying to return their horses when detained.
Gaylan Abdulaziz, cousin of Akram, confirmed the account of the source to Rudaw English, adding that he has received a message from a person who slams him for providing fake news to Kurdish media. According to a screenshot of the message sent to Rudaw English, the sender of the message claims in a broken Kurdish that the men were arrested inside Turkish land.
Halgurd Najib, head of Soran independent administration, confirmed to Rudaw on Wednesday that the two men have been released by the Turkish army and handed over to the local security forces. Sidakan is part of the newly-formed administration.
Najid also said that “both young men seemed tired in their faces. Investigations on why they were detained are underway. We will reveal the result of the investigation to the public later.”
He added that they will also investigate why the men went to an area controlled by the Turkish army and what has been done to them while in custody. Najib called on locals not to approach areas where the Turkish army is present.
The Turkish army has established dozens of outposts in the bordering areas in the Kurdistan Region in pursuit of the PKK fighters that have fought Turkey since the 1980s.
Turkey regularly bombs the area and Turkish drones monitor the Kurdistan Region on a daily bases, launching missiles that have killed and wounded dozens of civilians.
PKK is an armed group struggling for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey. Ankara considers it a terrorist organization and carries out military operations against it at home as well as in Iraq, Kurdistan Region and Syria.
Huseyin Kacmaz, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker in Sirnak province, told Rudaw English on Monday that he has sent several questions to Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar and Vice President Fuat Oktay about the two Kurdish youths.
“Is it true that they have been detained? If so, what are the facts behind their detention?” Kacmaz begins his questions, a copy of which has been submitted to Rudaw English.
The outspoken lawmaker also asked both Turkish officials about the whereabouts of Zikri and Mustafa and how they were detained. “What is their crime?”
Additional reporting by Adnan Rasheed
