17-Year-Old Boy Killed by Explosive on Pasture

17-year-old Murat Polat died of an explosive he found on a piece of grazing land when he herded animals close to the Yukarı Akçagedik village on 5 May. The village is in the Kurdish-majority province of Van in south-eastern Turkey. The explosive detonated in Polat's hand. His mother Hatice Polat mourned, "Death was given like a toy to the hands of my [son] Murat".

As reported by the Dicle News Agency (DİHA), Murat Polat's body was autopsied at the Van State Hospital. His funeral ceremony was also attended by representatives of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP).

"I do not deserve this grief. My [son] Murat did not deserve death. They set a trap for us. Death was given like a toy to the hands of my [son] Murat", Polat's mother lamented and expressed her further mourning in Kurdish.

Veli Avcı, BDP Ercis District Chairman, reminded in a speech delivered at the funeral ceremony that dozens of Kurdish children died in the pre-dominantly Kurdish region because they found and played with explosives form the military. He indicated that the Turkish army have not taken any precautions yet for explosives left in the fields.

Uncle of the victim Kerem Polat said that an atmosphere almost like a war was created in the village by the target practice of the Gendarmerie Outpost.

Polat stated that he went to the gendarmerie several times to object but as a reply he was allegedly told by the Gendarmerie Commander, "Nobody has died till now. Go away and come back once somebody has died". (NV/EÖ)