Victim of possible extrajudicial execution buried in Urfa

31-year-old Ferhat Tunç was buried on Wednesday in the village of Yukarı Hacılar (Hacilara Jor) in the province of Urfa. The police only allowed five family members to attend the funeral. Any religious ceremonies were also banned. The Interior Ministry had declared that Tunç had been killed in a skirmish, and his shooting was celebrated as a “success against the PKK”.

However, there are strong indications that Tunç was the victim of an extralegal execution. After the body was handed over to the family on 7 December, the family found that it only had a bullet wound on the side of the head. Tunç’s family confirm that there were no signs of a clash in the house where he was staying. They therefore suspect that Tunç was executed by security forces.