Despite attacker's confession to burning Syrians, report blames electric heater

Duvar English

The Metropolitan Municipality of the western province of İzmir has prepared its preliminary report with regards to a fire that broke out at a factory where three Syrian workers lost their lives.

The report said that an electric heater might have resulted in the fire, despite an assailant's previous confession that he was the one who had initiated the fire and burned the three Syrians in the factory.

Earlier this week, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a war monitor, announced that a Turkish citizen on Nov. 16 poured gasoline on the three Syrian workers as they were sleeping at a factory manufacturing stones for sidewalks.

The war monitor announced the killed Syrians as the 23-year-old Mamoun al-Nabhan, the 21-year-old Ahmed Al-Ali, and the 17-year-old Muhammed el-Bish.

After this announcement, the killed Mamoun al-Nabhan's brother Ahmet confirmed to Gazete Duvar in an exclusive interview that his brother lost his life after staying in intensive care for one week.

Afterwards, the Human Rights Association (İHD)'s İzmir branch held a press meeting, saying that the murderer had previously admitted that he had plans to kill the three Syrians, that the police had been aware of this confession, but yet failed to prevent the murders.

Fourteen days after the fire, a man named Kemal Korukmaz was caught for stealing a couple's money and injuring them. In his testimony, Korukmaz said that he was the one who had started the fire in the İzmir factory.

The assailant claimed that he was working on behalf of the Turkish gendarmerie’s intelligence and counter-terrorism agency (JİTEM), that he was constantly receiving notes from the agency reading “clean, start cleaning,” and that he interpreted these messages as an order “to kill Syrians.” Following his testimony, Korukmaz was arrested on charges of initiating the fire in the factory as well as attacking the other couple.

In a petition filed to the prosecutor's office, Korukmaz's lawyer demanded a health checkup for his client to determine whether he had a stable mental condition or not.

Meanwhile, the police said a preliminary report prepared by the fire department had indicated that the fire might have been caused by an electrical heater where the Syrians were sleeping.