Remains of 261 corpses buried in boxes on top of one another in Istanbul cemetery

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Killed PKK militant's body sent to family by cargo

The remains of 261 corpses have been unearthed in Istanbul's Kilyos Cemetery, with bones stuffed in plastic boxes and stacked on top of one another, according to a report by Mezopotamya news agency on May 21. 

282 bodies in a cemetery in the southeastern province of Bitlis were transported to Istanbul in late 2017 without the knowledge of the families of the deceased, the report said.

DNA tests have revealed the identity of the remains of 21 of the bodies, which were returned to their families, while 261 other corpses were stacked next to each other and on top of another in the Istanbul cemetery near the Black Sea coast. 

The remains of two brothers were discovered in the Kilyos cemetery, Hüseyin Döner, who was killed fighting alongside the Kurdish YPG forces in Syria against ISIS in the Syrian town of Kobane in 2014. Döner's older brother Ahmet, who was said to have joined the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) 25 years and never heard from again, also ended up in the cemetery.

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The PKK is designated as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and EU. Furthermore, Turkey considers the YPG as an offshoot of the PKK in Syria thus considers it as a terrorist organization.

The families of the deceased have referred to this practice of mass transit of corpses, which appears to target Kurds from the southeastern party of the country, as immoral and unconscionable. 

“We continue to be crushed after the deaths of our children. What is being done has no place in any religion or book. Regardless of how much they attack our dead we will continue to protect them more. We want to put an end to this torture that is committed against dead bodies,” said a relative, Gülper Döner.