Guler: Can a Father Take his Son to a Clash?

"None of our findings point to a clash," Huseyin Guler, a lawmaker of the Republican People's Party (CHP) from the province of Mersin, and a member of the Human Rights Commission of the Grand National Assembly (TBMM), told bianet about the killing of Ahmet Kaymaz and his 12-year-old son Ugur in Kiziltepe, Mardin.

Guler looked into the incident with Mehmet Nezir Nasiroglu from the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP). They both think the incident should be investigated.

"Even if they were terrorists, the basic responsibility of the police is to catch criminals alive and get them tried," said Guler.

"Only justice can decide whether they are terrorists or not."

Police had said they fired at the father and son because they were "terrorists."

"One dimension of this incident is that a 30-year-old father and his son have been killed; the second dimension is that the police is involved; and the third dimension is the confirmation that it is not enough to pass certain laws in the European Union accession process. The implementation of these laws has to be closely monitored," said Guler.

The following are Guler's observations about the killing of Ahmet and Ugur Kaymaz:

* Although there is the allegation that the victims were "terrorists," we believe that, even if they were terrorists indeed, the main responsibility of the police is to catch criminals alive and have them tried.

* Ahmet Kaymaz was killed about 15 - 20 or 40 - 50 meters away from his home next to his truck. We have not observed anything to suggest that there was a clash between the victims and the police.

"The people want those responsible to be punished at once," said Guler.

"It would be healthier to act sensibly and transparently and share every information with the people because this is a very sensitive issue." (YS/BB/EA/YE)