Killed PKK member's body not given to family for five years

A grave of three "unidentified people" in Diyarbakır. (Photo: MA/File)

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The body of Mercan Erkol, a member of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), has not been handed over to his family since he was killed during clashes with security forces on November 16, 2017.

His father, Hesin Erkol, had applied to the Diyarbakır Provincial Gendarmerie Command after his identity was disclosed on March 17, 2019.

Also having applied to the Kulp Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, Hesin Erkol gave a blood sample to the Dicle University Hospital for a DNA test. Four months later, the gendarmerie command called him to tell him that he could receive the body.

Accompanied by soldiers and police officers, Erkol went to Diyarbakır's Yeniköy Cemetery. However, there were three bodies in the grave that was shown to him. The prosecutor's office decided that the grave should be opened because the bodies were unidentified.

Report goes missing

It was then revealed that an expert report that was written by the Diyarbakır Biological Examination Branch Directorate in 2019 and sent to the gendarmerie command and the prosecutor's office was lost.

The Erkol family on August 18, 2020, filed an application with the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office, demanding an effective investigation and the body be given to them as soon as possible.

Three bodies in one grave

The Diyarbakır Directorate of Criminal Police Laboratory on August 19, 2020, prepared an additional report, sending it to the Kayapınar District Gendarmerie Command and the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office.

The prosecutor's office requested a sketch of the cemetery, which revealed that in the "cemetery of the unidentified" section of the Yeniköy Cemetery, there were bodies of three PKK members in each grave.

The two graves with unidentified corpses were named "Kulp Şenyayla 3 Men" and "Kulp Şenyayla 3 Corpse Parts." Based on an autopsy report prepared on November 19, 2017, it was determined that Erkol's body was in the second grave.

While Erkol'S body could be delivered to the family after opening the grave, the Chief Public Prosecutor's Office on December 19, 2020, suspended the process because "the relevant document was out of its area."

"Excuses"

Hesin Erkol told the Mezopotamya Agency (MA) that he had traveled from his hometown of Van to Diyarbakır eight times but was unable to receive his son's body despite all attempts.

This was an insult not only to them but also to others who were killed, he said, adding that the aıthorities always had excuses not to give them the bodies.

"Do you think they don't know which bones belong to whom? They know, but their thing is to insult and oppress. Their purpose is to upset the families. It doesn't matter whether our body is in Diyarbakır or Van, but what we want is that he has a grave here and to visit his grave, fulfilling the religious duties." (RT/VK)