ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) called on the Turkish parliament on Monday to investigate claims of torture against two Kurdish men by Turkish security forces in Van province.
“Our bloc’s deputy leaders Meral Danis Bestas and Saruhan Oluc took the topic of Osman Siban and Servet Turgut - who were persecuted in Van’s Catak district … and thrown out from a helicopter - to the parliament,” read a party statement.
“An investigation commission should be formed in order to end the systematic persecution and mistreatment as well as the policy of non-punishment,” it added.
A medical report confirmed that Siban and Turgut, supposedly arrested during a counter-terror operation on September 11, were injured after being thrown from a helicopter, the independent news outlet Duvar reported on Wednesday.
Graphic photos of Siban, 50, went viral on social media last week. The incident was first reported by the pro-Kurdish Mezopotamya Agency (MA).
Siban’s lawyers told Bianet news agency that their client has lost his memory, only recalling that he was detained and dropped from a helicopter later that day. He has been discharged from hospital and has returned home to Mersin.
However, 55-year-old Turgut remains in critical condition, according to Duvar.
Van’s Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into the incident on September 11, it confirmed.
HDP lawmakers visited Siban and Turgut's families on Tuesday, addressing Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar and Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu in a meeting with reporters. “Who ordered the persecution? Who implemented it? Who is covering it?” they said.
