Main opposition leader vows to enlighten execution of Turkish soldiers by ISIS
Main opposition CHP leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu has vowed to enlighten the execution of two Turkish soldiers by ISIS back in 2016 if his party comes to power in the upcoming elections.
Duvar English
Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) leader Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Sept. 26 visited the family of deceased soldier Fethi Şahin who was burned alive by ISIS in 2016.
Kılıçdaroğlu said that even though six years have passed since the execution, Şahin’s family was still waiting for the incident to be enlightened.
“A military should protect its soldiers, it is the military’s basic duty. When the parliament reopens (in October), we will bring this issue to the parliament’s agenda. And God willing if we assume the rulership (in the upcoming elections), we will bring out to light all of the details of this incident and we will inform the families,” he was quoted as saying by online news outlet T24 following his visit to the family.
“One of the perpetrators of this incident has been caught and imprisoned, but we have later found out from (journalist) İsmail Saymaz that he was released. Who has released this murderer? Who allowed this? After Saymaz wrote about it, the person was caught again and he is now on trial. I do not accept such an understanding of a state.”
In 2016, ISIS had released a video showing two captured Turkish soldiers being burned to death. Reports later said that the soldiers were named Fethi Şahin and Sefter Taş.
Jamal Abdul Tahman Alwi, an Islamic judge (known as qadi or kadi) for ISIS, is believed to be the person who issued the fatwa for the burning of the two deceased soldiers.
In 2020, Alwi was arrested in Turkey’s southeastern province of Gaziantep over the charges, but released a year later in March 2021 on the grounds that he had “no flight risk.”
When journalist Saymaz brought Alwi’s release to people’s attention, it resulted in a public uproar, and a Gaziantep court rearrested Alwi in September 2021.
There has been yet no official statement from the Turkish government with regards to the death of the two soldiers. Even though the execution video was released in 2016, Ankara continues to maintain its policy of silence.