Revealed messages show member of slain Kurdish family asked interior minister for help

Photo: AA

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One of the seven members of a Kurdish family who were killed in Konya had asked the interior minister for help, according to newly surfaced Facebook messages.

The attorney of the family, Abdurrahman Karabulut, shared the messages on Twitter, saying that "All of our requests for protection and arrest had been rejected. After the arrestees were released, Serpil Dedeoğulları, who felt that a massacre might happen, asked [Minister] Süleyman Soylu for help on Facebook on July 2."

"They were mere spectators of the massacre! You will be held accountable," the attorney wrote.

According to the screenshots of the messages, Serpil Dedeoğlu writes to the minister, "I wrote to everyone but could not make my voice heard. Please help us. I am always available to talk. We reside in Meram, Konya."

"Can you give more information about yourself? Can I get more information about your background?" the minister responds.

What happened?

An armed assailant raided the house of the Dedeoğulları family in the Hasanköy Neighborhood in Konya's Meram district in the evening hours on July 30. He shot seven family members dead, set the house on fire and ran away.

Several police and paramedic teams were dispatched to the scene of the incident upon reports. The dead bodies of Yaşar Dedeoğulları, Barış Dedeoğulları, Serpil Dedeoğulları, Serap Dedeoğulları, İpek Dedeoğulları, Metin Dedeoğulları and Sibel Dedeoğulları were found at home which was first raided by the group, then set on fire before leaving.

Living in the same neighborhood for 24 years, the Dedeoğulları family was targeted in an attack by a group of nearly 60 people on May 12. The family members said after the attack that they were told "We are [ultranationalist] idealists, we will not let you live here." The group also severely wounded the seven-member family, including four women. Of the seven people arrested after the attack, five were released. (NÇ/DŞ/VK)