Oktay Er was hit by a Turkish military armored vehicle on the main street in Göktepe village in Dersim’s Mazgirt district. The 22-year-old was run over by the military vehicle while crossing the road. While Er lost his life at the scene, his body was sent to Malatya for an autopsy.
Oktay’s father Cebrail Er said the accident took place on the main street, adding that they waited for the prosecutor for 3 hours at the scene.
Father Er told; “Following the inspection on site, his body was sent to Mazgirt where we were not given an ambulance. We called the central hospital but they didn’t send it either. We managed to get an ambulance only after talks with officials. Only then could we bring the body to Malatya. How could they run over my son there? It is plain road on the main street. I will file a complaint against those responsible.”
This is not the first time Turkish forces are killing people in the Kurdish region under the guise of “accident”. Only on September 11, six-year-old Efe Tektekin was was crushed by an armored vehicle belonging to the police on Emek Avenue in the central Bağlar district of Amed (Diyarbakır).
63 armored vehicle “accidents” in 10 years
Turkey’s Human Rights Association (IHD) announced in July its report titled Eastern and Southeastern Anatolia Regions Report on Violations of the Right to Life Due to Armored Vehicle Collisions Between 2008-2018.
The report pointed out that rights violations have occurred in many categories, one of them being violations of the right to life due to the use of military and police armored vehicles. The report cited at least 63 armored vehicle collisions in the last decade: “As a result of 63 cases, 36 people, including 16 children and 6 women, have lost their lives.”