MP under fire for criticizing Turkey's drone killing of civilian

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) - Deputy leader of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP), Sezgin Tanrikulu found himself in hot water on Thursday after his continued criticism of the last week killing of a Kurdish civilian by a Turkish army drone.

Tanrikulu, a long-time human rights lawyer, came under fire by the country's Interior Minister and pro-government media for his numerous tweets against the drone killing of the civilian Mehmet Temel and wounding of three others in the Kurdish province of Hakkari.

Minister Suleyman Soylu said CHP leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu should 'take the starch out of' Tanrikulu for "equating Turkey with the Kurdistan Workers' Party" (PKK).

"Your armed drone named BAYRAKTAR hit civilians and killed [one]. I will continue to expose this despite your baseness," Tanrikulu, himself a Kurd and lawmaker, said in a tweet.

Soylu further implied Tanrikulu was speaking on behalf of the outlawed PKK, the armed group that has been waging a decades-long guerrilla warfare against the Turkish state for larger Kurdish rights.

Tanrikulu said the Minister was threatening him.

Pro-government media, including Yenisafak, Yeni Akit, and Star accused Tanrikulu of allying with the PKK as well as being an asset for the CIA and American private intelligence platform Stratfor.

Other victims of the drone attack in a village of Hakkari were Ismail Aydin, Musa Tarhan, and Ibrahim Sak who were wounded.

Aydin's condition remained critical, according to Tanrikulu as Tarhan was under arrest despite his injuries.

Authorities have given conflicting statements regarding the attack first reported by pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Nihat Akdogan.

Soylu's Ministry claimed that the army had killed four "terrorists" in an operation while the Ankara-appointed Hakkari governor's office acknowledged the drone strike had targeted a group of civilians.

However, the governorate labeled the group as "collaborators," accusing them of working with PKK without further elaboration.

On Thursday Defense Ministry put out a statement alleging those critical of the last week's deadly attack were "supporters of the terror group" and denied any civilian casualties.

Tanrikulu challenged the remarks, asking the Defense Minister Nuretting Canikli on Twitter if he could confirm that one of the injured civilians, Tarhan, was a relative of a local official of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

Editing by Ava Homa