‘Who are the accomplices of Musa O.? Who protects him?’

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Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Group Deputy Chair Saruhan Oluç held a press conference at the Parliament yesterday (August 27) and addressed a series of current issues on the agenda of the country.

He first touched upon the release of Specialist Sergeant Musa O. facing charges for sexually assaulting 18-year-old İpek E. and driving her to suicide. On his release, Oruç briefly said:

'Did the bureaucrats or the judiciary protect him?'

"I would like to remind you of what the perpetrator of rape Musa O. said: 'You can file a complaint wherever you want, nothing happens to me.' This sentence has indeed turned out to be true. The grieved mother of İpek E. spoke yesterday and said, 'He trusted the state and the gun in his waistband.' It really is the case, the state and government protect him.

"Whom does it protect? The one who attacked and raped the Kurd. The state and the government say, 'If you are a Kurd, there is no right, law or justice for you.' It is what it comes to mean. So, the policy of impunity and the state's policy of protecting the criminals in this way are still in effect.

"Who are those people protecting Musa O.? We would like to ask you where this policy of impunity and protection will end up. Are there any accomplices of Musa O. and, if yes, who are they? Why did the justice lay claim to him? Was he protected by the military or civilian bureaucrats? Was he protected by the members of the judiciary?

"This release encourages new incidents of rape and this is on the judges and members of the judiciary who released Musa O.

'It has, in fact, showed the state of judiciary'

"The state of the judiciary is indeed pathetic. The judiciary that released Musa O. has in fact showed the state of the judiciary. What is the reason for release? Because he has no flight risk! So, does it mean that jailed politicians Selahattin Demirtaş, Figen Yüksekdağ, our co-mayors, co-chairs, party executives are still held behind bars because they have flight risk?

"Do you hold jailed journalists, writers and academics behind bars because they have flight risk that you release a rapist because he does not have such a risk? We would like to ask this to the judiciary. It is all silent. Why did it stand behind the perpetrator of a crime and protect him?"

CLICK - 'İpek is not dead and she won't until that man is penalized'

'Aren't you the Minister of Hakkari, Van, Batman?

Further in his speech, Oluç also criticized the attitude of the government in the face of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Raising concerns over the increasing number of cases, Oluç noted that the government was making efforts to overcome the outbreak with solely personal measures. "This government almost takes citizens, the people accountable for the increasing number of cases," Oluç protested.

Indicating that the process was not a democratic, participatory or transparent one, he reminded the reporters that there were serious allegations that the data announced by the Ministry of Health on a daily basis do not reflect the true scale of the pandemic in Turkey:

"Look, the numbers announced by the Ankara, İstanbul and Diyarbakır Medical Chambers clearly show that the data have been distorted, missing and not accurate. But the Ministry of Health and the Science Board do not say anything about it. The situation is indeed grave."

In this context, Oluç also raised concerns about the increasing number of cases in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern and southeastern provinces:

"The number of cases in cities such as Diyarbakır, Urfa, Van, Mardin, Şırnak, Hakkari is increasing rapidly. The infrastructure is really insufficient, intensive cares are full, there are no empty beds in hospitals, tests are not enough and people with symptoms are sent home, not taken care of.

"Just as the number of cases is increasing, the number of deaths is increasing as well. It is the case for the whole Turkey, not only for the cities that I have previously mentioned. But we ask the Ministry of Health for a special inquiry about these provinces.

"Look, I am talking about Batman: The healthcare system has collapsed in Batman. We are faced with a really serious picture. Contact tracing teams do not work properly and there is no vacancy in public hospitals.

"It is not only Batman, this is also the case in Hakkari. The situation is indeed grave. Are you the Health Minister of İstanbul, Ankara and İzmir, but not that of Diyarbakır, Hakkari, Van, Batman?"

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Flood in the Black Sea

Concluding his remarks, Saruhan Oluç also talked about the flood that claimed the lives of eight people in Turkey's Black Sea province of Giresun earlier this week. "Buildings were constructed on stream beds and, to top it all, hydroelectric power plants were built there," Oluç said and asked who undertook these constructions, who made these decisions and which ministry gave the decision to build an hydroelectric power plant.

Naming the companies "that were all pro-government," Oluç said, "The government supports all of these and these disasters unfold in the Eastern Black Sea with the support of the government."

CLICK - Flood claims eight lives in Black Sea province

(AÖ/SD)