Children Killed By the State
Mazlum Akay, Doğan Teyboğa, Umut Furkan Akçil, Ahmet İmre, Enver Turan, Canan Saldık, Birem Basan, Oğuzcan Akyürek, İzzettin Boz, Mehmet Nuri, Ceylan Önkol, Uğur Kaymaz... Just some of the children killed by the [Turkish] state since 1988…Most of the perpetrators did not stand trial, they went unpunished.
Berkin Elvan, a 15 year old boy who remained in a comatose for 269 days due to a police gas bomb canister during Gezi Park protests, lost his life on March 11, 2014. He is not the first child who died as a result of state violence in Turkey.
According to a report by IHD (Human Rights Association) Diyarbakır Branch entitled “2012 violation report devoted to children’s in Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Region”, 569 children lost their lives due to the clashes [between PKK and Turkish Army] between 1988 and 2013.
Only in 2012, land mines and random bombs took the life of 7 children. While two children died due to the violence inflicted by security forces, official fault and neglect also resulted in the death of 5 children.
Gas bombs
One of those children was Mazlum Akay.
On 29 July 2012, Akay was badly injured in the head with a gas bomb fired by the police. At that moment there was a demonstration against the imprisonment anniversary of Abdullah Öcalan, the leader of PKK. Akay was on his way to a local grocery store and he was returning home like Berkin Elvan.
According to İHD’s (Human Rights Association) report, security forces fired gas bombs “randomly”. On 4 August 2012, Mazlum lost his life after he was taken to Adana State Hospital Neurosurgery ICU with the help of neighbors. He was only 11.
On 4 November 2012, Faris Demircan (11) lost his life in a police-targeted bomb attack in Şemdinli in the southeastern of Hakkari province. The incident occurred when a parked car loaded with explosives detonated while a special ops unit was passing by near an old police checkpoint in Beşevler district.
On 24 July 2011, a similar incident occurred. Doğan Teyboğa (13) lost his life in the hospital after being hit in the head by a police gas bomb during a demonstration in Silopi.
355 children in 21 years
According to the data from “Bir Göz De Sen Ol” association, Turkey’s security forces killed at least 355 children between 1989 and 2010. The number of children killed by security forces from November 2009 to October 2010 turned out 13.
Furkan, Ahmet, Canan...
On 10 October 2010, Umut Furkan Akçil (7) was run over by a passing car while he was escaping from police attack during “9 October” demonstration (to protest the capture of PKK leader in 1998) in Şırnak.
On 6 October 2010, Ahmet İmre (12) died as a result of explosion of a metal object which they found in the countyside of Şırnak province. Another boy at the same age was gravely injured. It was claimed that children were playing nearby a military zone.
On 17 September 2010, a specialist sergeant reportedly got out his vehicle and shot Enver Turan (15) dead during the demonstrations held on first day of eid.
On 22 July 2010, Canan Sadık (16) was shot dead in the head during a picnic in Kurubaş village, one of central villages of Van province. It was claimed that the killing was caused by an open fire from Hacıbekir Barracks nearby.
On 24 June 2010, an armored police vehicle allegedly ran over Birem Basan (14).
On 25 May 2010, an explosion occurred as the children were playing approximately 1 meter away from the barbed wires surrounding General Mustafa Muğlalı Barracks in Özalp district of Van. Following the incident, Oğuzcan Akyürek (13) died. 4 children were injured. It was claimed that a soldier from the barracks fired the explosives at the children.
On 23 April 2010, İzzettin Boz, a 14-year-old boy who was grazing in Kabala Town of Yeşilli district country side in Mardin lost his life due to an object he found. It was alleged that ammunition belonged to military.
On 02 April 2010, Mehmet Nuri, a 14-year-old student at Çatak Anatolian High School in Hangedik Village of Çaldıran district (located 10 km far away from Iran) was shot dead by a Turkish soldier.
Mines took 22 lives
According to a report by “Mayınsız Bir Türkiye Girişimi” (A Turkey Without Mines Initiative), 23 children died only in Turkey in 2009 because of mines and explosives remaining from the war. Entitled “Monitoring Mine and Cluster Bombs”, the report was published in November 2010.
Iconic names
On 28 September 2009, Ceylan Önkol (14) lost her life by an explosive casted from the military zone Hambas field/Şenlik Village of Lice district in Diyarbakır province.
In 2004, Uğur Kaymaz lost his life. Uğur was killed along with his father, Ahmet Kaymaz, by the police in Mardin Kızıltepe. (YY/BD/BM)