Mahir Deniz, a commander of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), spoke to ANF about the involvement of families of captive Turkish police and soldiers in the sit-in protest by families in front of HDP headquarters in Amed (Diyarbakır).

Deniz pointed out that HPG was one of the addressees as it held some members of the offensive forces confronting the Kurdish people in the name of the government.

Commander Mahir Deniz addressed a call to the ‘families looking for their children’ who are made to stage a sit-in in front of HDP headquarters in Amed; “Their sit-in outside the HDP office is in vain. What exactly the AKP-MHP regime is doing at the moment is to use these families for its own interests, just like it once led their children into war and now wants to kill them. Families of policemen and soldiers should know the truth and not be a tool for dirty policies.”

The HPG commander highlighted the following;

“As is known, the Erdoğan-led Turkish state started an all-out war through the implementation of the so-called Collapse Plan against the Kurdish Freedom Movement on 24 July, 2015. During the past five years since, which witnesses heavy clashes, HPG guerrillas captured some policemen, soldiers and MIT (Turkish secret services) operatives in various locations. Since the first day these were arrested by our forces, it is only the families that are concerned over them, with the government neither asking nor acting for them, ignoring them as if they did not even exist.

Father of Müslüm Altıntaş, one of the soldiers under HPG arrest, has been participating in the sit-in outside the HDP Amed headquarters, and demanding the return of his son alongside the families whose children are claimed to be with the guerrilla.  In a recent interview, People’s Defense Central Headquarters (HSM) Commander Murat Karayılan stated that; “The sit-in action in front of the HDP headquarters is a machination by the AKP, MIT and the police. These families could even spend the next ten years in front of the HDP headquarters, but nobody will come back”. KCK Executive Council Co-president Cemil Bayık also highlighted in an interview with ANF that families should address their remarks to the PKK and the guerrilla, but not the HDP.”

“THE TURKISH STATE IGNORES THEM”

Commander Mahir Deniz recalled that they have published images and videos of the captive Turkish elements before and enabled them to send a letter to their families on occasion of Eid in an attempt to satisfy the families’ curiosity and inform the public opinion. He added; “Still, the Turkish state and public opinion act as if these captive military members did not exist at all. Nobody is asking about them.”

“THEY WANT TO KILL THEM”

HPG Commander pointed out that “the Turkish state, which takes no action to take back its security personnel in HPG captivity, has even tried to locate these Turkish personnel and kill them in air raids. Because they know that they will not be able to reach them in a land operation. The Turkish state and intelligence have been making this effort for a while. This has two reasons;

*They will kill the captives in air raids and accuse us by announcing the incident to the public opinion as “PKK killed our policemen and soldiers.

*Human life has no value for the AKP-MHP regime, even if their own police and soldiers are in question.

Commander Deniz recalled AKP officials’ comments “they should have better died than being taken captive” on the 8 Turkish soldiers captured by the guerrilla in Oramar in 2008. He added; “The fascist AKP-MHP regime, bearing the same mentality today, is after killing its own police, military and MIT personnel.”

"THIS REGIME DRAGGED THEM INTO THIS DEAD END"

Deniz said the following when asked about the involvement of father of soldier Müslüm Altıntaş, who was arrested by HPG on Dersim-Pülümür road on 2 October 2015, in the sit-in in front of the HDP Office in Amed; “The captive state forces were arrested for being a party to the crime against humanity and war crime committed by the Erdoğan regime against the people of Kurdistan. One of the parties of this war is the AKP-MHP regime which is indeed supposed to reclaim those taken captive. It is this regime that dragged them into this dead end.

"SIT-IN OUTSIDE HDP OFFICE IS IN VAIN"

HPG Commander continued; “The families sitting in front of the HDP office is in vain. It is us who arrested these soldiers and who is a party of this war, so we are the ones that need to be talked with on this matter. If the families of captives do really want to see their children safe and secure, then they should ask the AKP-MHP regime and Erdoğan what they were doing to bring their children back. Even if they happen to ask this question, they will get no answer because nothing is being done to this end. As I just mentioned, the Turkish state and intelligence try to locate and kill the captives. Now, shedding crocodile tears, they try to exploit the pain of mother and families and use them for their own interests. No family should be deceived by this game and this hypocrite and sneaky policy of Erdoğan should be seen.

"FAMILIES SHOULD ASK THE STATE ABOUT THEIR CHILDREN"

Mahir Deniz emphasised that; “We say it clearly, Erdoğan and the AKP-MHP regime will be responsible if something happens to these captives. The families should firstly ask the AKP-MHP regime why it wants to kill their children. What exactly the AKP-MHP regime is doing at the moment is to use these families for its own interests, just like it once led their children into war and now wants to kill them. Families of policemen and soldiers should know the truth and not be a tool for dirty policies.”

"THE CAPTIVE SOLDIERS, POLICEMEN AND MIT OPERATIVES"

In 2015, ANF published interviews with the 9 Turkish soldiers and police officers held by the PKK. The police officers and soldiers stated that war is not the solution, and that the state both ignores them and endangers their lives.

Turkish intelligence MİT Overseas Ethnic Separatist Activity Director Erhan Pekçetin and MİT Human Resources Officer Aydın Günel had been captured in a special operation in Sulaymaniyah’s Dokan town on August 4, 2017. Besides them, there are 9 soldiers and police officers, identified below, currently held by the PKK;

Sedat Sorgun: Gendarmerie soldier from Erzurum. Captured while serving in the Van F Type Prison. Captive for 4 years.

Ümit Gıcır: Gendarmerie soldier from Balıkesir. Captured while serving at Çukurca District Gendarmerie Command. Captive for 3 years.

Semih Özbey: Sergeant from Malatya. Captive for 4 years since his arrest in Dersim on 17 September 2015.

Adil Kabaklı: Soldier from Osmaniye. Captured while on his way to Dersim after completing military training in Ankara. Captive for 4 years.

Müslüm Altıntaş: Soldier from Urfa. Arrested on Dersim-Erzincan road in the first 1,5 month of his military service. Captive for 4 years.

Mevlüt Kahveci: Specialized sergeant from Eskişehir. Arrested while on his way from Çukurca to Hakkari. Captive for 4 years.

Sedat Yabalak: Policeman from Mersin, arrested on Amed-Lice road during his service in Urfa. Captive for 4 years.

Süleyman Sungur: Soldier from Siirt, arrested on Amed-Lice road during his service in Bingöl. Captive for 4 years.

Hüseyin Sarı: Specialized sergeant from Maraş, arrested on his way from Sarıkamış to Maraş. Captive for 4 years.

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