MÊRDÎN - The perpetrators of Selamet Yeşilmen, one of the 24 civilians who lost their lives during the curfew in Nisêbîn, have not been revealed for 8 years, despite witness accounts that he was killed by fire opened from an armored vehicle.

 

One of the cities that witnessed curfews and conflicts after the self-government declarations was Mêrdîn's Nisêbîn (Nusaybin) district. The first curfew was declared in the district on October 1, 2015. Even though the first ban was lifted, a curfew was declared 7 more times until March 14, 2016. During the attacks, the fire opened by special operations police included 24 civilians named Ahmet Sönmez (54), Şahin Turan (25), Selamet Yeşilmen (44), Hasan Dal (45), Musur Aslan (19), Abdulkadir Yılmaz (65), Muhammet Altunkaynak (20), Nurhan Kaplan (45), Şerif Alpar (55), Sedat Güngör (22), Mehmet Emin İnan (55), Cudi Teber (23), Mahsum Akdoğan (19), Fehime Aktı (56), Hakan Doğan (15), Medeni Orak (45), Rohat Karakoç (25), Hasan Korkmaz (60), Mehmet Pitek (40), Heyhat Müjde (43), Saadet Müjde (19), Fehime Kurumaz (11), Dilşa Ak (59) and Emire Gök (39) lost their lives; however, to date, the perpetrators of none of the civilians killed have been revealed. In the investigations carried out, it was claimed that all the shots fired by the police were 'according to the procedure'.

 

SALAMET WAS KILLED WITH HER CHILD

 

Selamet Yeşilmen, a mother of 5, one of the civilians killed in Nisêbîn, was 5 months pregnant when she was killed by a volley of fire from an armored vehicle on 15 November, when the curfew declared for the fifth time on November 13, 2015 continued.

 

Yeşilmen's daughter Sevcan and son Fikret, who rushed to the aid of Yeşilmen who was killed when he went down to the garden of his house with a bowl of dough in his hand, were also taken under fire and survived the attack with injuries. In official statements, it was claimed that the police had nothing to do with the attack; however, eyewitnesses stated that the fire that killed Yeşilmen was fired from armored vehicles.

 

THE FILE WAS LEFT 'UNSOLVED MURDER'

 

In the murder of Selamet Yeşilmen, as in the other 23 civilians killed, the prosecutor's office investigated Yeşilmen's "ties with a terrorist organization" instead of investigating the perpetrators. The investigation file that was opened was soon transferred to the Permanent Search Bureau without even a single document being added to it, and was left "unsolved murder".

 

THE FAMILY WAS ASKED TO GIVE UP THE FILE

 

While no steps were taken regarding the Yeşilmen file, which was still among the files kept on the dusty shelves of the prosecutor's office, the authorities repeatedly suggested to the family that they give up the criminal file and that Yeşilmen was a "victim of terrorism"; however, the family, who did not accept this, did not give up the criminal file and continued to file a compensation lawsuit against the Ministry of Internal Affairs, demanding "violation of rights". In the case heard at the Mardin Administrative Court, the court found the Ministry of Internal Affairs "at fault" on the grounds that Yeşilmen was killed in the garden of his house and that he did not violate the curfew, and ordered compensation to be paid to the family.

 

'REVEAL THE PERPETRATORS'

 

Stating that his wife, who was able to take her to the İpekyolu with a blanket and take her to the hospital because the ambulance could not come to the scene after the shooting, died from blood loss, Abdurrahim Yeşilmen said: "I don't forget the statement made by the Governorship after the murder of my wife, saying 'PKK killed her, ' They said so, but even the cartridges we delivered to them were war cartridges. So we filed a lawsuit; however, there has been no result so far. But still, I will follow the cause as long as I live. Even if my life is not enough, my children will follow. We want them to reveal the perpetrators. The state knows who the perpetrator is. There is a camera in front of the vehicle that opened fire, and a camera behind it. There are cameras everywhere where that cartridge was fired. Nothing has been uncovered to date. That court sends it there, the other one sends it to another party. They want to make us fed up and give up on the file. But we will definitely not give up.”

 

MA / Ahmet Kanbal