Police officer shoots dead Syrian teenager in southern Turkey

Duvar English

A police officer has shot dead a 17-year-old Syrian teenager in the southern province of Adana, prompting outrage on social media.

Ali al-Hamdan reportedly disobeyed police warnings during controls on the street in Adana's Seyhan district, which was followed by a police officer shooting him to death on April 27.

Although Adana Governor's Office said that he was wounded "accidentally" when police fired warning shots to the air, footage shared on social media showed Hamdan shot in the heart.

"A.H. succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. The police officer in question was suspended and the legal and administrative investigation into the case is ongoing," the office said in a statement.

The officer in question was arrested on April 28.

Hamdan was reportedly trying to avoid receiving a fine due to the curfew imposed on those below the age of 20 amid the coronavirus pandemic, with reports saying that he was out on the street because he had to continue working to make a living.

Following his death, thousands of social media users urged authorities to find the perpetrator with the hashtag "Where are Ali's killers."

This is not the first incident that police shot and killed unarmed individuals.

Kemal Kurkut, 23, was shot by police on March 21, 2017 during the Newroz celebrations in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır. He was reportedly shot on suspicion that he might be a suicide bomber, although pictures from the scene showed that Kurkut was topless and couldn't have hidden a bomb on any part of his body.

Another teenager shot to death was Dilek Doğan, who was killed during a police raid against the Revolutionary People's Liberation Party/Front (DHKP-C) on Sept. 18, 2015 in her house in Istanbul's Sarıyer. She was also unarmed.