'It was soldiers who stated that Turgut, Şiban were dropped from a military helicopter'

Şiban: I told my kids, 'Don't be afraid'

Osman Şiban told Ahmet Şık the following:

"I was in front of my own home, together with the kids, having tea. I don't fully remember but I think it was around 4-5 in the afternoon. I saw that they were bringing Servet Turgut. Two soldiers were in his two arms, and another soldier was pointing his gun at Servet's back. They had put something like a sack on Servet's head. Speaking to myself, I said: 'These are very dangerous soldiers. Why have they done this?'.

I was afraid they were coming at me. At a distance of about 100-150 meters, they started yelling: 'Who is Osman Şiban?'. I was having tea outside. I dropped the glass upon hearing my name and seeing Servet like that. I raised my hand: 'I am Osman Şiban'. 'Come here', they said. I stood up when they came to me.

They removed the sack from Servet's head. They asked 'Servet Turgut, is this
Osman Şiban?'. Servet said 'Yes'. They continued yelling: 'Tell the truth, is this
Osman Şiban?'. They asked this three times. Later they asked for my identity card, I gave it. He looked at the card, and pointing to Servet Turgut, he asked me if I knew him. I said 'Yes, he is Servet Turgut, he is my nephew, how can I not know him'. They told me to go with them, and 4-5 soldiers caught me in the arms. I turned to my kids and said: 'Don't be afraid, they'll send me back, I'll come back'. They took us to where the hays were."

"There were koçers (nomads) around the region where the clashes happened.
The soldiers asked the koçers: 'Where did you come from, who brought you here?'. And the Koçer said 'Osman gave this land to me'. That's how they knew my name. I am the owner of this village, I am a homeowner here. These are my grandfather's lands. I won't be disrespectful to the place. We own the title deeds. Koçers told: 'We rented this land from Osman, and paid him. We are not here without permission. The land belongs to Osman'. They gave my name. And when the soldier asked 'Where is Osman?', they directed him to our village. The soldiers break up in two groups, one group goes across this deep river, and the other one comes to our village. They see Servet on top of the hill near our Village. Servet was sewing his sacks with his needle, his 'sujin' as we call it. He was sewing the mouth of the sack. I don't know what they did to him, maybe they beat him up, and then said 'Show us Osman', and they brought him to the village."

"They were lycnhed by soldiers"

The report described the incidetn as follows:

On top of these, interviews with witnesses in Van city centre reveal that the
allegations about Turgut and Şiban originated from the soldiers. According to the statements of the villagers, Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban, who were detained at around 16.00-17.00 and taken into a helicopter, were tortured by being beaten during their entire flight.

Following the helicopter's landing in Van Gendarmerie Command Post, the villagers were thrown onto the concrete ground and the torture continued. Turgut and Şiban were lynched by many soldiers.

The conditions of the villagers worsened due to the tortures, and on 11 September 2020, at around 19.00, they were taken by civilian looking gendarmeries in separate cars to the two different branches of Private Lokman Hekim Hospital in Van.

Turgut, whose condition was worse, was taken to the Lokman Hekim Van Hospital on Zübeyde Hanım Avenue in Cumhuriyet Neighbourhood, which had better facilities, and Şiban, who was relatively in better condition, was taken to Lokman Hekim Life Hospital on Milli Egemenlik Avenue in Serhat Neighbourhood.

According to the witnesses, emergency doctors carried out an immediate medical treatment on Şiban, who sustained heavy bruises to his face and body; however, they suspected of cerebral bleeding and transferred Şiban to Van Training and Research Hospital, which had better facilities.

The witnesses recounted that the civilian looking gendarmeries who brought Şiban to the hospital addressed the hospital staff and other people and said: "These are terrorists. We caught them during a clash, but they tried to escape by jumping off the helicopter". Following on from these statements, we can say that the allegations about "falling of, or being thrown off" originated from the perpetrators.

The soldiers thought that a true statement about the tortures and lynching which resulted in heavy injuries could not be made. Their words which were spoken to the hospital staff and other people around, were heard by the families which found their relatives in intensive care units, and the relatives then passed these words on to lawyers, journalists, and HDP Deputy Murat Sarısaç.