Family pleas spur grave exhumations
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Anatolia News Agency
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Nisan 30, 2009 00:00
DİYARBAKIR - The exhumation of seven graves began in the southeastern city of Diyarbakır yesterday, upon orders from the local prosecutor’s office.
The Diyarbakır Prosecutor’s Office authorized the exhumation of seven unidentified graves at the Mardinkapı Cemetery after receiving a request from the Yıldırım and Kaya families, whose close relatives are registered missing.
Chairman of the Human rights Association’s Diyarbakır branch, Muharrem Erbey, and members of the Yıldırm and Kaya families were at the site.
Erbey said the graves were being exhumed to collect bone samples.
Erbey said this was the conclusion of the long research process after Fethi Yıldırım and Hakkı Kaya’s relatives applied to the association. "These bodies buried here were found on the Hani road. Samples of bones taken here along with blood and hair samples of the families will be sent to Istanbul for forensic examination. In this cemetery for unclaimed bodies it was proved that two people were strangled to death and the others were found on the Hani road. We have identified 26 unclaimed graves in Diyarbakır. We want every one of them to be exhumed," he said.
Erbey said people from villages in the region have contacted the association saying they, too, had unclaimed graves in their villages after hearing of the exhumations. He said he expected all those with missing relatives to apply to the association and that they would work closely with the prosecutor’s office. Villagers found seven bodies on the Diyarbakır-Hani Highway in 1996-1997 and they were buried in the Mardinkapı Cemetery for unclaimed bodies.
Family’s request
Excavations had been carried out earlier at locations on the Diyarbakır-Hani Highway and 461 fragments of bone were found. The search was based on statements made by former outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, informant Abdülkadir Aygan, who now resides in Sweden, that the bodies of Fethi Yıldırım and Hakkı Kaya were buried on the highway.
The Yıldırım and Kaya families had applied to the prosecutor’s office to request a comparative analysis of the bone fragments unearthed 12 years ago with those in the seven graves.
Chairman of the Human rights Association’s Diyarbakır branch, Muharrem Erbey, and members of the Yıldırm and Kaya families were at the site.
Erbey said the graves were being exhumed to collect bone samples.
Erbey said this was the conclusion of the long research process after Fethi Yıldırım and Hakkı Kaya’s relatives applied to the association. "These bodies buried here were found on the Hani road. Samples of bones taken here along with blood and hair samples of the families will be sent to Istanbul for forensic examination. In this cemetery for unclaimed bodies it was proved that two people were strangled to death and the others were found on the Hani road. We have identified 26 unclaimed graves in Diyarbakır. We want every one of them to be exhumed," he said.
Erbey said people from villages in the region have contacted the association saying they, too, had unclaimed graves in their villages after hearing of the exhumations. He said he expected all those with missing relatives to apply to the association and that they would work closely with the prosecutor’s office. Villagers found seven bodies on the Diyarbakır-Hani Highway in 1996-1997 and they were buried in the Mardinkapı Cemetery for unclaimed bodies.
Family’s request
Excavations had been carried out earlier at locations on the Diyarbakır-Hani Highway and 461 fragments of bone were found. The search was based on statements made by former outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, informant Abdülkadir Aygan, who now resides in Sweden, that the bodies of Fethi Yıldırım and Hakkı Kaya were buried on the highway.
The Yıldırım and Kaya families had applied to the prosecutor’s office to request a comparative analysis of the bone fragments unearthed 12 years ago with those in the seven graves.