Doctor who fled North Kurdistan for political reasons shot dead in Sulaymaniyah

In Sulaymaniyah, a doctor who fled North Kurdistan for political reasons was shot dead in the middle of the street. The circumstances of the crime indicate a targeted attack, and Turkish authorship is considered likely.

A person persecuted by the Turkish regime was shot in the southern Kurdish metropolis of Sulaymaniyah. Doctor Abdulkadir Sabri Toprak had just left a restaurant on 60th Street in the Baxan district north of the city on Thursday afternoon when an unknown man opened fire from a short distance. Toprak collapsed after being hit by several bullets and died at the scene. The public prosecutor's office entrusted Asayîş with the investigation and an autopsy was also ordered. Among other things, this should clarify how many shots were fired at the dead man.

Dr. Abdulkadir Sabri Toprak was born in North Kurdistan and was the father of three children. The doctor, who was born in 1989 in the province of Btlis (Bedlîs), had lived in Sulaymaniyah for twelve years, where he worked in a private clinic. He had to leave his homeland due to political persecution. Relatives and acquaintances assume that Toprak's killing was a contract killing from Turkey. The circumstances of the crime point to a killer from the ranks of the Turkish secret service.

 “It was certainly a targeted attack that against Abdulkadir Sabri Toprak. Turkish authorship is likely,” said the board of the Association of Working People from Mesopotamia (Komeleya Karkerên Mezopotamyayê, KKM), of which the man killed was also a member, in an initial statement. The attack was carried out following the same pattern as other deadly attacks against opposition members, refugees from Turkey and other people who are in some way close to the Kurdish liberation movement. And Toprak would not be the first member of the KKM to be murdered by assassins from the Turkish state.