HDP calls the killing of top Kurdish lawyer an assassination

DIYARBEKIR (K24) - Pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) called the killing of the prominent Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci on Saturday, an assassination.

In a statement released on the party's website following Elci's death, HDP said the head of Diyarbekir Bar Association Tahir Elci had come under "media lynch" in Turkey.

The statement said Elci, who was shot dead in clashes between Turkish police and PKK-affiliated Patriotic Revolutionary Youth Movement (YDG-H), had earlier been arrested by "those members of the judiciary who have become playthings in the hands of the government". Elci had been detained by authorities on November 20 over his earlier remarks that PKK was not a terror organisation.

"Those enemies of humanity who couldn't deal with his [Elci's] ideas and struggle chose instead to murder to silence him" the HDP statement read.

49-years-old Tahir Elci was in the historic Sur district of the Kurdish city of Diyarbekir when clashes broke out between Turkish police and suspected YDG-H members on Saturday morning. Shortly after, Tahir Elci was shot dead in the head during the street shootout. Although TV cameras and reporters were accompanying him and others who came to protest earlier clashes, the exact circumstances of his being shot dead remain vague.

The father of two Mr Elci was in the area to issue a media statement regarding the damage received by "Minareya Çarling" (the Four-legged Minaret Mosque) a 16th-century landmark, during clashes earlier this week.

Elci was facing trial for his comments about the PKK that had infuriated Turkish prosecutors. He was bring tried in a Diyarbekir court with up to 7 and a half years in prison.

Diyarbekir Bar Association that Elci was heading stated in a tweet that Elci was "assassinated."

The United Kingdom Ambassador to Turkey Richard Moore tweeted that he was "shocked and depressed" by the murder of Tahir Elci whom he called "my friend". "A good and brave man cut down", he added.

The United States embassy in Turkey too tweeted "we are shocked by the tragic death of Tahir Elci - a courageous defender of human rights." The embassy called Elci's murder "a terrible loss."

(Hesen Kako and Siddiq Eren contributed to this report from Diyarbekir)