An Alevite soldier was shot dead by another soldier on account of not fasting in Ramadan, said the family of the victim.
20-year old Ali Arslan, who was doing his obligatory military service in Hakkari, told repeatedly to his family on the phone that he was constantly being harassed by other soldiers, merely because of being Alevite.
On 15 August Ali Arslan was shot in the head by another soldier who blamed Arslan for not fasting in Ramadan. It is also reported that the death of Arslan was hidden by the commanders and it was not covered by the press.
Ali Arslan was buried in Palanga village of Erzincan. The family also stated that the identity and the fate of the other soldier are unknown to them and the officials did not inform them.
401 suspicious soldier deaths in the last 20 years
Controversial death incidents have been increasing in the Turkish army. On 12 August a Kurdish soldier from Diyarbakir was alleged to have committed suicide in Manisa where he was doing his military service. The family claimed that their son was not suicidal and started a legal procedure.
On 6 June another Kurdish soldier Emrah Demirel from Agri was alleged to have committed suicide in Kiziltepe by shooting himself once. However, there were three bullets holes found on his clothes.
Especially with the increase of the operations the number of the suspicious death are also increasing. According to the report released by Human Rights Association (IHD) on 22 June within the last 20 years 401 were soldier lost their lives in suspicious incidents.
According to the report number of the controversial incidents as follows:
2000: 66, 2001: 42, 2002: 50, 2003: 31, 2004: 37, 2005: 34, 2006: 33, 2007: 28, 2008: 40, 2009: 30
ANF / ERZINCAN
ANF NEWS AGENCY
