10 people detained in Yüksekova brutally tortured

Turkish special operations police broke down house doors and abused entire families in a detention operation in Gever.

In the district of  Yüksekova in Hakkari province, numerous flats were stormed by the special operations police on Friday morning as part of the political extermination campaign against the Kurdish population. Ten young people were taken into custody by the use of force and ill-treated in the police station. The traces of mistreatment have been medically certified.

The parents of some of the victims described the police action to MA. Irfan Özeken reported that his son Vedat was thrown to the ground in front of him and his arm was broken. "My son screamed for help, but we were not allowed to approach him. When I tried anyway, I was also thrown on the floor and tied with my hands behind my back. They searched our flat for hours and threw everything around. The women were forced to lie on the floor in their underwear and the policemen put their feet on their backs," said Irfan Özeken. The man said his son was finally dragged half-naked and barefoot to an armoured car while being beaten. "They wanted to take him to the police station in his underwear. Only after much pleading were we able to give him clothes," Özeken said and added: "What is being done to us is unbearable. It's enough, we don't want to be treated like this anymore. Let them kill us or finally leave us alone."

Barış Özçük's mother reported that during the police raid on her flat, the electricity supply was cut off and the door was blown open with a detonator. The woman said her son was sleeping in the living room, adding: "We didn't know what was going on. The police entered the flat and locked us in a room. Three or four policemen jumped on my son's back, handcuffed him and beat him. Then they stripped him naked and doused him with cold water while they continued to beat him, and he screamed loudly. I have a heart condition and fell to the ground when the policemen kicked me. My husband was beaten several times with rifle stocks. Every policeman who passed my son kicked him. He had wounds all over his body."

The front door of the Koca family was also opened with a detonator. Father Nasrullah said the following about the arrest of his son Agit: "When we went downstairs, we saw that the front door and the flat door on the ground floor had been broken open. There was smoke everywhere after the explosion. The policemen came in and immediately attacked us, hitting us with gun stocks and fists. When my disabled daughter came downstairs, they shot towards her feet. They almost killed all of us. All my children and I were beaten, especially my son. My daughter-in-law is pregnant. Who would have been held accountable if anything had happened to her or her baby?"

Another person detained is Bahtiyar Bor. When his cousin Serhat Aşkan asked for him at the police station, he was also taken into custody. His mother, Asya Aşkan, said she does not know the reason for the detention and also does not know what condition Serhat is in now.