Confession of a Village Guard
Ethem Seyhan was a village guard for twelve years. Village guards were originally set up by the Turkish military in the 1980s as a local militia in the rural areas of the pre-dominantly Kurdish south-east.
Seyhan now claimed that he received death threats from the military and other village guards after he went to the press and talked about murders and burning down villages. He is not able to return to his village because of the threats.
The Fırat News Agency (ANF) reported that former village guard Ethem Seyhan said he tortured people for a total of twelve years in Şırnak and Mardin upon the force of the state and other village guards. Last year he apparently said, "We executed eight people by shooting and burned down 20 villages". He admitted regret for what he did and said he was treated unfair. "In the 1990s, we burned down more than 20 villages in the regions of İdil, Midyat and Nusaybin. We imputed the crimes to the PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party]".
"We executed four people"
Seyhan said that he was forced to settle down in Izmir together with his family due to the threats he received after his confession.
Seyhan made the following statements about his past:
"I was a village watchman. I became a guard upon the pressure of the gendarmerie station commander in our village and the other guards. For years, we went to many different places and tortured people. They threatened to kill us if we would not continue".
"I experienced a horrible incident in 1993. 27 village guards and Special Sergeants Ali and Arif went together with us to the Alkadasuse region at around 5.00 am. We waited in an ambush for the Çalpınar vehicle. The car came after one hour. We cut the way and made the passengers get off. Cengiz Kaymaz made them stand in a line and told them to step forward when he called their names. He said four names and they stepped forward".
"The Chief Guard pressed his rifle to the stomach of the first one in the row. They were all shot and laid on the ground. We shot at the car. Just then, a person called Ahmete Halo lifted his head and looked at me. I turned my weapon towards him and shot him".
"One year later a trial was opened against us. The court acquitted us. I started to be frequently threatened in 1998 because I had failed to fulfil the orders of the Chief Village Guard. Afterwards, they said that I did the shooting on my own and got false witnesses. I was arrested together with Tacettin Sakan, Nevat Aydın, Halit Aktar, Rahmi Kaçmaz, Vecdi Özbay, Mehmet Şeyhan, Tevkif Akbay, Abbas Taş and Şehmus Şeyda. We all stayed in prison for six years. We were released after it became clear that were not guilty".
"My life and the lives of my family members are in danger"
Seyhan told his story to the press after he was released. He was taken into custody by the village police as soon as he had returned to his village. He claimed that the village guards threatened him and treated him violently in custody. "Sometimes they call to curse me and threaten me that they will kill me. The state has used me for years and now brought me into this situation. I am calling on all village guards, this is going to happen to you as well sooner or later. My life and the lives of my family members are not safe anymore. A couple of times I thought of applying to the prosecution. But then I said, 'What can a state do for me after it brought me into this situation?' I take refuge in the justice of my people. I apologize to everybody", Seyhan said. (ÇM/EKN)