Turkey army helicopter fires at, wounds civilians: Kurdish party

Ziya Pir, an MP representing Diyarbakir stated that statements from the authorities confirmed the government had allowed the army to use military force against civilians.

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan 24) - A Turkish military helicopter fired at civilians in a village under curfew in the Kurdish province of Diyarbakir, wounding at least three, said opposition lawmakers on Monday.

The country's Pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) co-leader Serpil Kemalbay broke the news on Twitter about the incident in the village Baglan (Misref) where the army was conducting a large scale operation against Kurdish rebels.

"Villagers in Diyarbakir's Lice [district] have been shot at from a helicopter. Aid to the wounded prevented. Silence on murder is a big shame," Kemalbay tweeted late at night.

The office of the Ankara-appointed governor of Diyarbakir denied any civilian casualties in a press release on its website.

The governorate gave the number of the wounded as two and described them as "collaborators," with the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) that is fighting the Turkish state for larger Kurdish rights.

Representing the civilian victims as "collaborators" echoed a deadly drone strike last week in the Hakkari province which killed a person and wounded three others.

At a press conference in Diyarbakir city, a delegation of lawmakers from the HDP revealed that besides the wounded, there was another person killed whose identity remained unknown, reported Kurdistan 24's Diyarbakir office.

Feleknas Uca, the Yezidi Kurdish member of the Turkish Parliament, said she received widespread reports of maltreatment of villagers by the soldiers.

Ziya Pir, an MP representing Diyarbakir stated that statements from the authorities confirmed the government had allowed the army to use military force against civilians.

Pir added that troops did not let villagers of Misref go to the aid of the wounded who remained on the street.

He added that soldiers raided many houses in the village and harassed families.

Pir denounced the Interior Minister who over the weekend said there could be mistakes during operations in the Kurdish region.

 

Editing by Ava Homa