25 Organizations Prevented From Entering Suruç Due to ‘Security of Life’

* Photograph: Evrensel

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The representatives of 25 organizations, who wanted to go to Suruç in Turkey's southeastern province of Urfa to make investigations about the armed conflict that claimed the lives of four people on June 14, were not permitted to enter the district on the ground of "security of life".

As reported by Evrensel newspaper, the representatives of 25 organizations, including the Diyarbakır Bar Association, Human Rights Association (İHD), Confederation of Public Laborers' Unions (KESK), Right Initiative, Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV) and Turkish Medical Association (TTB), gathered in Diyarbakır Bus Terminal to go to Suruç yesterday (June 17).

However, the organization representatives were intercepted by the police on their way to Suruç. The riot police and an armored vehicle were also referred to the area. Negotiating with the security forces, the organization representatives were told that there were not any prohibitions, but would still not be permitted to go to Suruç on the ground of "security of life".

Evrensel newspaper has also reported that officials from the Urfa Governorship and Urfa Security Directorate called the representatives of the organizations at 3 a.m. to inform them that their entrance to Suruç would not be permitted.

What happened?

The dispute that erupted during the election works of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) Urfa MP and MP candidate İbrahim Halil Yıldız in the district of Suruç in Turkey's southeastern province of Urfa turned into an armed attack and conflict on June 14, 2018.

The dispute began when the AKP Urfa MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız and those accompanying him started to visit the shops in the district of Suruç as part of their election campaign. After the shop owner Esvet Şenyaşar ordered the group out of his shop, a quarrel erupted between the two sides.

With the escalation of the quarrel, the guards of the AKP MP Yıldız shot Adil Şenyaşar, the son of Esvet Şenyaşar, in his leg. After hearing that his brother had been shot, Fadıl Şenyaşar came to the shop with a weapon and opened fire on the relatives and guards of Yıldız. In the armed conflict that erupted, the AKP MP Yıldız's brother Mehmet Şah Yıldız and the sons of Esvet Şenyaşar, Celal Şenyaşar and Fadıl Şenyaşar, were wounded.

The wounded were taken to the hospital after this incident. Mehmet Şah Yıldız lost his life at the hospital which he was referred to. Adil Şenyaşar and Celal Şenyaşar were killed inside the Suruç Public Hospital where they were taken for treatment. The father Esvet Şenyaşar was also attacked at the entrance to the hospital and lost his life.

After the attacks ended, three people from the family of Şenyaşar, namely the shop owner Esvet Şenyaşar and his sons Adil Şenyaşar and Celal Şenyaşar, and one person from the family of Yıldız, namely the brother of the AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız, Mehmet Şah Yıldız, lost their lives. On June 17, the son of Esvet Şenyaşar, Fadıl Şenyaşar was arrested in relation with the death of Mehmet Şah Yıldız. (TP/SD)