'Osman Şiban' statement from Interior Minister Soylu

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu attended the 2021 Interior Ministry Budget Talks, where he also answered the questions of MPs.

As reported by the state-run Anadolu Agency (AA), speaking at the Planning and Budget Commission meeting, Soylu said, "To me, there is no Kurdish problem, either. But, Turkey has an issue of terrrorism; it has always had it. It has a PKK [Kurdistan Workers' Party] problem."

Soylu also referred to the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and said, "I know a lot, it is also on the HDP, it is in the processes where our citizens are. Kurds and Alevis and Kurds are the concrete of this country."

CLICK - Şiban says, 'They dropped us, they dropped us...'

Further in his speech, Minister Soylu also talked about Osman Şiban, who was allegedly dropped from a helicopter together with Servet Turgut after both were detained in Van province on September 11. Soylu indicated that the allegations were being investigated.

Soylu said, "Mihrali Yılmaz, the one responsible for Kato Jirka [region] is there. The location is Çatak. Our [soliders] followed them. There is the house of Şiban. While it is being followed, three people come to the house that belongs to Osman Şiban. Till then, the one responsible for Kato Jirka was Mihrali Yılmaz. Afterwards, there are SİHA [armed uncrewed aerial vehicle] images. The images showing three terrorists while entering Osman Şiban's house... We are following the mobility in Şiban's house. Osman Şiban, who says 'I was not available' is being a militia for the terrorist'."

Soylu continued as follows:

"They raise their heads. This terrorist martyrs all three. The place where he comes to is a brook. Our [soldiers] follow him, they clash and die. In the place where the Servet Turgut incident took place. Osman Şiban is the person who hosted three terrorists. They got on a helicopter and came.

"Whatever happens after that, we will put forward it with our investigation. But you need to know that their commander was martyred by a terrorist and we have records showing that Osman Şiban, who aided and abetted them, are also involved in this."

Amnesty demanded independent investigation

Amnesty International previously sent a letter to the authorities in Turkey regarding the allegations that Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were subjected to torture or other ill-treatment by gendarmerie.

"These allegations must be subject to a prompt, independent and impartial investigation and those suspected to have carried out the alleged torture or other ill-treatment must be brought to justice in fair trials," the statment of the Amnesty International has underlined.

Şık: Official lie invented

Independent MP Bülent Şık, who prepared a report about the incident, also shared the following comment before:

"It is apparent that the allegations concerning the 'throwing off of the citizens from the helicopter,' which shaped public discussion and were taken up by the opposition, rights activists, and the media, have originated from the perpetrators who have tried to hide the real story by inventing an 'official lie'."

What happened?

Taken into custody by the soldiers who launched an operation in the Çatak district of Van province on September 11, Osman Şiban and Servet Turgut were found in the intensive care unit of the Van Regional Training and Research Hospital two days later.

Speaking about the issue, Osman Şiban said that he and Servet Turgut were dropped from a helicopter after they had been detained and tortured by soldiers in Turkey's Kurdish-majority eastern province of Van.

While the "Intensive Care" section of the report has referred to "falling from a higher place" as a complaint, the report has further said that "they were brought to the emergency department by paramedics upon being informed by the security personnel after they had fallen from a higher place."

In a written statement about the allegation that two people were dropped from a military helicopter, the Governor's Office of Van has announced that a legal and administrative investigation has been launched.

While Şiban has recovered, Turgut lost his life on September 30.

On the other side, police raided the office of Mezopotamya Agency (MA) and houses of several journalists, including Jinnews reporters, in Van in the early morning hours on October 5 2020.

MA reporters Adnan Bilen and Cemil Uğur, Jinnews reporter Şehriban Abi and Nazan Sala were detained in the raids. On October 9, they were arrested on charge of "membership of the organization".

The journalists revealed it with documents that Servet Turgut and Osman Şiban had been dropped from a helicopter. (EMK/SD)