Kurdish man dies after being thrown from military helicopter in Turkey's east

Duvar English

A Kurdish man who had been in intensive care for 20 days due to being thrown from a military helicopter died on Sept. 30.

Servet Turgut, 55, was detained in an army operation in the Çatak district of the eastern province of Van and was subjected to torture.

Osman Şiban, who suffers from memory loss due to being thrown from a helicopter, was also detained at the same operation on Sept. 11.

No information could be obtained on their whereabouts for two days following their detention. Their families were then able to locate them at a hospital in Van.

According to hospital records, the two men were brought to the hospital for "getting injured after falling from a helicopter."

Epicrisis reports of Şiban and Turgut also featured the phrase "falling from a high place."

Turgut's son had said that all the bones in his father's body were broken.

The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) released a statement, saying that they are "very sad and angry."

"The killers of Turgut are those who detained him. A government understanding that tortures and kills its citizens has no democratic legitimacy," the party said, while deeming the incident "a crime against humanity."

A number of HDP deputies also slammed the incident, with Hüseyin Kaçmaz saying that the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is a partner in this murder that was committed brutally.

"Servet Turgut became a victim of the AKP government's anti-Kurdish policies," Kaçmaz said.

HDP Van deputy Murat Sarısaç said that the government is silent because it gains power form these policies.

"Servet Turgut, a Kurd and a farmer, was openly murdered," Sarısaç said.

Democracy and Progress Party (DEVA) deputy Mustafa Yeneroğlu also commented on the incident, saying that those responsible would be brought to account if Turkey was a state of law.

"If we were actually a state of law, those responsible for that torture would be suspended, an effective investigation would be launched and all perpetrators would receive heavy sentences," Yeneroğlu tweeted on Sept. 30, while also deeming the incident "devastating."

Van Governor's Office had previously denied that the two men were thrown from a helicopter, saying that Turgut "fell in a rocky area when trying to escape from soldiers."