ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Turkish gendarmerie forces on Monday raided a Kurdish neighbourhood in the southeastern province of Van, clashing with locals when attempting to arrest a suspect. The force has come under fire for extensively firing in the air.
Footage shared by a number of lawmakers from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) shows a group of Turkey's gendarmerie members attempting to arrest a man and firing in the air to disperse a crowd. An old man is seen confronting the force while many women cry.
Huseyin Kacmaz, an outspoken HDP lawmaker, was among those who shared the video. He said in a tweet on Monday that the soldiers were trying to arrest a person in Baskale district’s Esenyanac (Xashkan) neighbourhood but “fired for minutes and beat women who intervened.”
Many Twitter users shared the video, slamming the Turkish force.Başkale ilçesi Xaşkan Mahallesi’ne bağlı Sersul mezrasında K.A adlı yurttaşı gözaltına almak için gelen askerler havaya dakikalarca ateş açtı, duruma itiraz eden kadınları da darp etmiş. Görüntülerde bu kadar silah sıkmayı gerektiren tek bir emare var mı?! pic.twitter.com/n2sdaLStUn
— Hüseyin Kaçmaz (@avhuseyinkacmaz) June 20, 2022
Fatma Kurtulan, another HDP MP who is a member of the human rights investigation committee at parliament, said in a tweet that she has requested an investigation by her committee.
“This brutality cannot be covered up with baseless statements. There can be no justification for firing automatic weapons on civilians, including women and children, for minutes,” she said.
Van governor’s office released a statement regarding the incident on Tuesday, defending the force's act. It said that the gendarmerie force wanted to arrest a man who was wanted for alleged murder and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) membership.
“After M.E.A was arrested, his relatives began throwing stones at gendarmerie vehicles. Therefore, the gendarmerie forces dispersed the crowd by firing in the air,” read the statement.
It added that the suspect was taken to a police station to be tried later.
PKK is an armed group fighting for the increased rights of Kurds in Turkey but Ankara considers it a terrorist organization.
