A Syrian Kurdish family sought refuge in Turkey by crossing the border from Mardin’s Kızıltepe district on May 18. Their son A.Ö. (14) was very afraid and always wanted to return to their home in Damascus. As they approached the border, they were confronted by Turkish soldiers.
Gani Ö., A.Ö.’s father, told bianet what happened later:
“10 meters to the Turkish border, we heard some talking in Turkish. My son was afraid, he tried to go back. While he turned his forehead to the Syrian side, we heard gunfire. My son was shot in the back of his head."
“The soldiers made no warning before opening fire at us nor firing up. I didn’t understand why they did so.”
A.Ö. is now in Germany where his mother is residing. Gani Ö. told bianet that his son lost sight in both eyes and doctors in Germany said that he would never be able to see again.
Gani Ö., on the other hand, lives in Kızıltepe, Turkey. He said that while he filed for a complaint twice, no prosecutions has been launched yet.
17 died while crossing the border
Amnesty International released its report entitled “Struggling to survive: Refugees from Syria in Turkey”.
The organization cited at least 17 documented cases between December 2013 and August 2014 where individual were shot by border control units.
Other refugees were mostly beaten, ill-treated or pushed back to the war in Syria, the report said.
“It is even hard to reach the border”
Amnesty International Turkey researcher Andrew Gardner added that most of the refugees didn’t file a complaint for the ill-treatment.
“It is unacceptable to shoot people who run away from clashes and seek a safe haven. This is an open violation of international law and it mustn’t stay unpunished,” he said. (AS/BM)
* Click here to read the article in Turkish.
