DIHA News Agency revealed that Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) member Ziver Çelik who was returned to Turkey with the mediation of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent in 1996 disappeared after being summoned for interrogation in Diyarbakýr. Çelik whose mother applied to the Human Rights Association (ÝHD) had appeared on a television programme by the state-run TRT channel before his disappearance.

Born in the Alayurt (Erbayê) Village of Mardin in 1978, Ziver Çelik joined the PKK in 1991 after the oppression he was subjected to whilst working as a construction worker in Konya. He was captured by the peshmargas and turned over to Turkey in 1996. During his 20-day detention at the military base in Þýrnak he appeared in a television programme known for its use as a psychological weapon of the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) in the war with the PKK.

Çelik was jailed afterwards to be released on probation three months later. About a month after his release he did not return from Diyarbakýr where he was summoned for interrogation.

A similar case had occurred when PKK member Ýbrahim Yüce disappeared in 1994 after having appeared at the same television programme.