| Submitted by Tsiatsan on Thursday, October 01 2009 |
Source: Kurdish Info The Turkish Army is insisting on destructive operations. As if attacks on the Medya Defence Regions weren’t enough, the murder of civilians is also continuing. 13 year old Ceylan Önkol was killed in the Lower Xambaş hamlet of Lice’s Şenlik village, following missile attacks by the gendarmerie of the Tapan Tepe Battalion. With this another child was added to the victim list of the Turkish Army. The bombing took place 200m from the village.Ceylan’s body was ripped to pieces in the attack. Also trees burned down and animals perished. Although he was called, the public prosecutor refused to come to the scene of the incident, saying ‘I don’t have life assurance.’
Diyarbakır family devastated by death of daughter, lack of official response
The family of a girl killed by a mortar shell fired from an unknown location overlooking the village of Şenlik in Diyarbakır province has asked how it can request an investigation into her death when there are no state authorities in the area.
“My Ceylan was torn to pieces. Why was my child killed for no reason? Who is going to answer for this?” asked the mother of 13-year-old Ceylan Önkol, as quoted by the Taraf daily.
Önkol's brother Rıfat said she was out in a bushy area to gather leaves for the sheep she was watching but was suddenly hit by a mortar shell that apparently came from a higher location. The only place located on higher ground than the village is a military outpost overlooking the area.
Rıfat Önkol said they found pieces of Ceylan's body on branches of trees and waited for six hours for the arrival of a doctor and prosecutor, but no one showed up. He said they also called several deputies and eventually found out that officials fear for their safety in the region and avoid travel in the area. Officials asked the family to bring the body of the girl to the nearby Abalı police station. The family found a casket in another village and put Ceylan's remains inside a blanket in the casket to take to the police station in Bingöl province.
As quoted by the Taraf daily, Serdar Çelebi, an official from the Diyarbakır branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD), said they found no traces of a mine explosion in the area where the girl was killed.
“There are claims the shell came from the Tapantepe post on the Bingöl-Diyarbakır border. This post overlooks the area where the incident happened. As officials did not go to the scene of the event, a necessary investigation has not been carried out to find those responsible,” Taraf quoted him as saying.
