September Report:
On September 1, 2024, three citizens of the Iraqi Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), who were
dining at a restaurant in Aksaray, Istanbul, were wounded in an attack because they were speaking
Kurdish on the phone. Hakim Lokman later died in the hospital.
Following a press statement held in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul on September 1st—World Peace
Day—12 people were detained during a police intervention against the individuals making the press
statement, on the grounds of chanting Kurdish slogans and dancing the halay. On September 2, 2024,
they were arrested by the criminal court of peace on the charge of “making propaganda for a terrorist
organization.”
On September 15, 2024, Murat Verim, a reporter for DİHA (which had been closed down by a
Statutory Decree), was arrested and sent to Mardin Midyat Prison on the grounds that he had a final
prison sentence.
On September 17, 2024, a woman named Fatma Sümeli, who applied to Siirt Training and Research
Hospital due to hearing problems, was told that the hearing test (SRT) she was supposed to have
could not be performed because she did not know Turkish. The physician on duty wrote on the SRT test
document that “SRT values could not be measured because the patient did not know Turkish,” and
recommended that she be referred to another hospital.
In the case filed against 13 police officers—including the Artvin Provincial Police Chief and the Hopa
District Police Chief—regarding the death of Metin Lokumcu as a result of the excessive and
disproportionate use of tear gas during a police intervention against a press statement made in the
Hopa district of Artvin on May 31, 2011, the Trabzon 2nd Criminal Court of First Instance ruled for lack
of jurisdiction. The final hearing of the case, retried at the Trabzon 2nd High Criminal Court, was held
on September 6, 2024. The court ruled to acquit the 13 defendants.
On September 9, 2024, the İzmir 4th Criminal Court of Peace issued a seizure order regarding two
books: The Purple Color of Kurdish Politics by former Diyarbakır Metropolitan Municipality Co-Mayor
Gültan Kışanak, published by Dipnot Publishing, and Kidz of Kobani by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon,
published by Avesta Publishing.
On September 20, 2024, the decision of the Urfa Suruç Municipality Council to name a park after the
Kurdish love epic Mem û Zîn and another park after poet Sait Kendirci was rejected without
justification by the Suruç District Governorship.
On September 24, 2024, at least 27 people, including MED-DER Co-Chairs Mehmet Remzi Azizoğlu and
Şükran Yakut, were detained during house raids conducted in Diyarbakır, İzmir, and Istanbul as part of
an investigation launched by the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office. Reports also stated that
there was a confidentiality order on the investigation file, and those detained were restricted from
meeting their lawyers for 24 hours. The names of those detained were later made public: MED-DER
Co-Chairs Mehmet Remzi Azizoğlu and Şükran Yakut, Jin Art Huner manager Belkıs Süleymanoğlu
Bitkin, Ramazan Holat, Rıfat Roni, Dilan Güvenç, Nazan Çelik, Rezan Aktulum, Beritan Gurbet Orak,
Berivan Duman, Ayhan Karatekin, Cihat Güneyli, Mehmet Salih Öngün, İlyas Gün, Hebun Yağmur,
Mine Karakaş, Fatma İgin, Rabia Karayıl, İpek Oyur, Mustafa Açmaz, Hasan Görpınar, Şehriban
Ayluçtarhan, and Cihat Çağrıcı.
It was learned that during the investigation, the Mesopotamian Language and Culture Research
Association (MED-DER), Anka Language and Art Education Cooperative, and Payîz Pirtûk
bookstore—which provide Kurdish language education in Diyarbakır—were raided by the police, and
many books, magazines, and computer hard drives were seized during the searches.
On September 23, 2024, it was reported that the Ministry of the Interior had launched an
investigation and assigned an inspector regarding the Zarokistan Nursery and Day Care Centers in
Diyarbakır’s Kayapınar district, which provide multilingual education in Turkish and Kurdish to children
between the ages of 3 and 6.
On September 24, 2024, it was reported that the statute of limitations decision made in 2019 in the
case filed at the Diyarbakır 3rd High Criminal Court against 89 people regarding the September 24,
1996 incident at Diyarbakır E Type Closed Prison—where 11 prisoners lost their lives and 24 were
injured—was upheld by the 1st Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals.
On September 26, 2024, Ömer Deniz (33), a shepherd in the rural area of Tirkmene in the Doğubeyazıt
district of Ağrı, was found dead 200 meters away from a military point, having been shot in the head.
Ömer Deniz had reportedly been warned by soldiers for some time due to his traditional clothing and
had been subjected to accusations of being an informant.
RIGHTS VIOLATIONS IN PRISONS
Prisoners whose release was extended by the decision of the IGK on the grounds of “bad conduct,”
despite having completed their sentences, include: Aydın Kudat, Abdurrahman Güner, İdris Başaran,
Mazlum Ari, Nedime Yaklav, Şirin Taşdemir, Hakkı Aygün, Halil Temel, Kadri Alkoç, Ahmet Bayna, Ejder
Doğan, Ali Koç, Mehmet Sarıaltun, Abdullah Ok, Mustafa Karakaya, Hasan Öğüt, Adem Oktay, Ali
Haydar Elyakut, Metin Çakır, Muhittin Pirinçioğlu, Bekir Yollu, Ali Şen, and Çetin Arkaş.
On September 1, 2024, three prisoners named Hüseyin Aşkan, Mansur Zan, and İsmail Tüzün, who
were held in Kırşehir High Security Prison, were subjected to physical violence by prison guards on
August 26, 2024.
On September 13, 2024, a prisoner named Abdülmelik Okyay (71) suffered a heart attack in Erzurum
H Type Prison and later died in Erzurum Research Hospital after being transferred.
In the investigation into the death of prisoner Reber Soydan, who was found dead in the single room
where he was held in Van F Type High Security Prison on May 11, 2024, the Van Chief Public
Prosecutor’s Office decided not to prosecute.
CROSS-BORDER ATTACKS AND CONFLICTS
In September, Turkey launched attacks on the Kurdistan Federal Region of Iraq and the Autonomous
Region of North and East Syria, targeting mostly civilian settlements, using UAVs/UCAVs and heavy
weaponry.
Many areas in the Kurdish region of Turkey have been declared “Military Security Zones,” with entry
and exit to these areas being prohibited.
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Email: kurd.chr.geneve@gmail.com Web: www.kurd-chr.ch
