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Turkey
From left: CCTV footage of the incident, and a file photo of Mehmet Akbaba by AA. Graphic: Rudaw
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The district chief of police in Turkey’s Konya province has been transferred to another place due to his negligence when dealing with the case of two Kurdish families whose members were murdered in late July, said a family lawyer on Monday.
Police chief of Konya’s Meram district, Mehmet Akbaba, was penalized "due to his negligence in the massacre of the Dal and Dedeoglullari families,” tweeted Abdurrahman Karabulut, lawyer of the latter family, on Monday.
Hakim Dal, a Kurdish farmer, was killed in Meram district on July 21. His family said he was killed for being a Kurd while authorities say he died in a fight with residents of another neighbourhood. Seven members of the Dedeoglu or Dedeoglullari family were killed on July 30 in the same district. The authorities did not consider it as a hate crime while the dead had warned in May that they were being attacked for being Kurds.
Despite warnings by the Dedeoglu family that the same people who attacked them on May 12 could attack them again, security forces failed to respond to the warnings.
Turkish police arrested a suspect, Mehmet Altun, on August 4, believed to be the man seen on CCTV footage killing seven members of the Dedeoglu family. Karabulut later told the opposition Medyascope that 10 other people have also been arrested for instigating, participating and aiding in the incident.
He also said that the governor of Konya told him on Sunday that Akbaba had been transferred to Cumra district police department in the same province “but there is also an effective and administrative investigation against the officers and policemen who should be dismissed as well.”
The lawyer praised the investigation, saying it is being carried out "very effectively and our requests are being met.”
Rudaw English reached out to Meram police department but they were not available to comment.
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