Death of Hacı Lokman Birlik

Hacı Lokman Birlik was killed during the conflict between it and the Turkish Army on 2 or 3 October 2015. His dead body was tied to an armoured police vehicle in Şırnak, Turkey, an event that the Turkish police filmed, and shared on social media. The Turkish Ministry of the Interior confirmed the dragging of the dead body, justifying it by saying that authorities were concerned that a bomb may have been attached to the body.

Victim

Hacı Lokman Birlik was born on 16 September 1988.[1] He was the brother-in-law of Leyla Birlik, an MP for the Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).[2][3][4] He had produced and starred in the short movie Bark, about the choice Kurds make between rebellion and the Turkish government, with the support of the Municipality and Youth Working Group of Şırnak.[5]

Death

There are conflicting reports about how Birlik died.[6] Reports say he died on 2[7][8] or 3 October 2015.[9][10] Turkish officials, such as the Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, claim he was shot whilst attacking the police with a rocket launcher.[11][10] DIHA reported Birlik was shot by the police whilst treating a wound he had;[12] with the People's Democratic Party MP Ferhat Encü reasoning similarly.[10] According to an autopsy report,[13] he was shot twenty-eight times,[9][14] before his body was tied by the neck[12] to a Scorpion armored police vehicle[15][16][8] and dragged through the streets of Şırnak.[14][10][6] Images of Birlik being dragged were uploaded to Twitter.[8] When the images appeared on social media, a debate ensued between those who claimed the images were photoshopped and those who deemed them to be genuine images.[12]

The pro-AKP newspaper Sabah claimed the dragging of a body was a universally acceptable procedure to verify whether a bomb was attached to the body.[12] Later a video which showed the dragging of Birlik surfaced, which was filmed from inside the vehicle. Slurs and insults could be heard. Deniz Yücel of the German newspaper Die Welt assumed Birlik was really dragged behind an armored police car.[12] Later, the Turkish Ministry of the Interior confirmed that the dragging of the dead body occurred: They justified the dragging by explaining police assumed the body had a bomb attached to it.[3][17]

Reactions

The images caused a public outcry by the politicians of the HDP and the Government.[11] Selahattin Demirtaş, the co-chair of the HDP at the time, uploaded a photograph of the event the next day on Twitter, demanding the people should not forget what they see.[3][18][4]

In October 2020, HDP MP Nuran İmir demanded an answer from the Justice Minister Abdülhamit Gül, and questioned the fact that while several of the officers involved in the police operations in Şırnak were charged for being a member of the Gülen Movement, there were none being investigated for the death of Birlik.[19]

In 2018,Hacı Murad Dinçer, the Turkish police officer in charge of the Anti Terror unit in Şırnak at the time of Birlik's death, received an award from the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan for his services in Şırnak.[20][21] Dinçer also applied to be a candidate for the Grand National Assembly of Turkey for the Justice and Development Party (AKP).[22][23][24]

Investigation and prosecution

On 5 October 2015 the Ministry of the Interior initiated an investigation if the events depicted in the photo took place.[15] According to the Turkish BBC, his aunt acknowledged he joined the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) during the Ramadan and that at the time he was shot, he was bandaging a wound he had.[25] An image of the dragging of Haci Lokman was also sent to Leyla Birliks Twitter account from one with the name Jitem (Turkish Gendarmerie Intelligence).[25] By 7 October 2015, the HDP issued complaints against the Minister of the Interior Selamik Altinok and the Governor and the police chief of Şırnak,[26] while Demirtaş demanded Altinok step down.[27] On 12 October Turkish officials claimed two of the involved officers had been dismissed,[28][17] but according to Kurdish sources, they were are still on duty in another location.[29] The family of Birlik also pressed charges against the police officer who they deemed responsible for having ordered the dragging of their relative.[21][20] By 2020, the investigation was focused on the fact that the images were uploaded on social media. After six different prosecutors refused to conduct an investigation into the events, the lawyer representing Birlik went to the Constitutional Court.[19]

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made assurances in an interview with Habertürk TV that an investigation would be conducted not into the incident itself, but how the images were perceived by the international media.[18][30]

Internet access to news reporting of the event from more than one hundred outlets was prohibited by several courts. Newspaper BirGün appealed the decision at the Turkish Criminal Judgeship of Peace in Gölbasi in 2015, however their case was dismissed.[31] Birgün then appealed to the Constitutional Court, where in 2019 the court ruled Birgün's rights of freedom of expression were violated.[32][31]

Prosecution of Hacı Lokman Birlik's family members

The father of Hacı Lokman Birlik was later prosecuted for being a member of a terrorist organization at a court in Şırnak, but was acquitted.[33] The prosecution appealed the verdict at a court in Diyarbakir, which recognized that Hasan Birlik waved a flag with the Kurdish colors and shouted "Martyrs don't die" at his son's funeral, which was seen as an act of "terrorist propaganda".[33] His sister-in-law Leyla Birlik was also prosecuted for being a member of a terrorist organization, due to her attendance at the funeral, and in 2018 left Turkey into exile.[34][11] The prosecution deemed Hacı Lokman Birlik a member of the PKK.[33]

See also

References
  1. "Hacı Lokman Birlik mezarı başında anıldı". Nupel TV (in Turkish). 4 October 2022. Retrieved 17 May 2023. His birth date can be seen on his grave (right)
  2. Bejjani, Elias (30 October 2015). "Uzay Bulut: Turkey: Kurds Threatened Before Elect/Burak Bekdil: What Turkey's Elections Will NOT Change". Elias Bejjani News. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  3. "Türkische Polizei soll Leiche geschändet haben". Süddeutsche Zeitung (in German). 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  4. Mackey, Robert (5 October 2015). "Turkey to Investigate Images of Dead Kurdish Man Being Dragged". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  5. Şimşek, Bahar (2021), Gunes, Cengiz; Bozarslan, Hamit; Yadirgi, Veli (eds.), "A Cinematography of Kurdishness: Identity, Industry and Resistance", The Cambridge History of the Kurds, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 770, ISBN 978-1-108-47335-4, archived from the original on 25 April 2022, retrieved 20 March 2022
  6. Carney, Josh (2018). "Resur(e)recting a Spectacular Hero: Diriliş Ertuğrul, Necropolitics, and Popular Culture in Turkey". Review of Middle East Studies. 52 (1): 111. doi:10.1017/rms.2018.6. ISSN 2151-3481. JSTOR 26478485. S2CID 158269519. Archived from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  7. IBTimes (4 October 2015). "Turkey: Image of Kurdish man's body being dragged through streets by Turkish soldiers goes viral [PHOTOS+ VIDEO]". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  8. Kök, Mümtaz Murat (2016). "Foucault comes to Bakur: Sovereign Power and collective punishment" (PDF). Glocalism: Journal of Culture, Politics and Innovation (2): 18. doi:10.12893/gjcpi.2016.2.3. ISSN 2283-7949. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
  9. Engelliweb 2019: An Iceberg of unseen Internet Censorship in Turkey (PDF). August 2020. p. 21. ISBN 978-605-69446-3-5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 April 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  10. "Who was the man Turkish police dragged through the streets?". The Observers - France 24. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  11. Zaman, Amberin (27 July 2017). "Turkish parliament expels more pro-Kurdish lawmakers in absentia - Al-Monitor: The Pulse of the Middle East". Al-Monitor. Archived from the original on 27 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  12. Yücel, Deniz (5 October 2015). "Schändung: Foto von Leiche an Polizeiauto schockt die Türkei". Die Welt (in German). Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  13. "Gedenken an Hacı Lokman Birlik". Firat News Agency (in German). Archived from the original on 3 October 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  14. "Situation sécuritaire dans la province de Sirnak entre 2011 – 2019" (PDF). Ofpra. 27 August 2019. p. 7. Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 February 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  15. "Investigation Against that Photo by Ministry". Bianet. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  16. Uludag, Alican (14 June 2016). "Hacı Birlik'i sürükleyen polise ödül gibi ceza". Cumhuriyet (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  17. "Interior Ministry: Two staff suspended over dragging of dead body in Şırnak - Turkey News". Hürriyet Daily News. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  18. "Turkey leader condemns video of 'dead Kurdish militant dragged by neck'". The Guardian. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 March 2022. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  19. Bişkin, Hacı (10 April 2020). "Lawyer takes case of Kurdish man dragged behind armored vehicle to top court after 5 year impasse". Gazete Duvar. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  20. "Erdogan's Torture Squads" (PDF). Advocates of Silenced Turkey. January 2021. p. 5. Archived (PDF) from the original on 8 February 2021. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  21. "Turkish court overturns acquittal of Kurdish man charged for attending son's funeral". Ahval. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
  22. "Kurdish man in Turkey faces terror charges for attending his son's funeral | Ahval". Ahval. 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  23. "AKP's controversial presumptive candidates | Ahval". 30 October 2020. Archived from the original on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  24. "Türkei: Kriegsverbrecher Kandidat für AKP". Firat News Agency (in German). 28 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 April 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  25. Kamer, Hatice (6 October 2015). "HDP'li Birlik: Sürüklenen akrabam yaralı ele geçirildikten sonra infaz edildi". BBC News Türkçe (in Turkish). Retrieved 12 October 2022.
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  27. "Images of Dead Kurdish Militant 'Dragged by Turkish Police' Spark Outrage". NDTV. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
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  29. "Noch immer keine Anklage". Yeni Özgür Politika (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 25 April 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
  30. "Turkish Authorities Drag Body of Kurdish Man, HDP Files Complaint". The Armenian Weekly. 7 October 2015. Archived from the original on 30 January 2017. Retrieved 27 March 2022.
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  32. Engelliweb 2019 pp.21–22
  33. "Police victim's father to be tried over 'terrorism' after court overturns acquittal ruling in Turkey's Şırnak". Gazete Duvar. 19 June 2020. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
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