 Excavations began Wednesday in the Mutki district of Bitlis after repeated calls for investigations in the area by relatives of people missing since 1999. AA photo |
Bones belonging to at least 12 different people have been unearthed in the eastern province of Bitlis in an area used as a landfill for a gendarmerie station, news agencies reported Wednesday.
Excavations began Wednesday in the Mutki district after repeated calls for investigations in the area by relatives of people missing since 1999.
Relatives said nine people were killed by soldiers as they traveled to join the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The additional bones are believed to be those of PKK members.
A Bitlis public prosecutor, Bitlis Bar Association head Enis Gül and Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, Bitlis provincial head Mehmet Can Demir were present at the scene along with members of the Human Rights Association, or İHD.
Serdar Çelebi, a member of the İHD’s central board, called on those responsible for the deaths to be brought to trial.
Several hooks were also found beside the bones, but their purpose remains unknown.
The excavations centered on four locations in a vacant lot near the Mutki-Kavakbaşı road next to the local gendarmerie station.
The families of missing people have pointed to other suspected burial locations, Çelebi said, adding that they would follow developments closely.
It is claimed that at least 36 people were killed and dumped in similar mass graves in the area between 1993 and 2003.
Excavations began Wednesday in the Mutki district after repeated calls for investigations in the area by relatives of people missing since 1999.
Relatives said nine people were killed by soldiers as they traveled to join the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union. The additional bones are believed to be those of PKK members.
A Bitlis public prosecutor, Bitlis Bar Association head Enis Gül and Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, Bitlis provincial head Mehmet Can Demir were present at the scene along with members of the Human Rights Association, or İHD.
Serdar Çelebi, a member of the İHD’s central board, called on those responsible for the deaths to be brought to trial.
Several hooks were also found beside the bones, but their purpose remains unknown.
The excavations centered on four locations in a vacant lot near the Mutki-Kavakbaşı road next to the local gendarmerie station.
The families of missing people have pointed to other suspected burial locations, Çelebi said, adding that they would follow developments closely.
It is claimed that at least 36 people were killed and dumped in similar mass graves in the area between 1993 and 2003.
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