A Turkish rights organization is set to file a lawsuit against the General Staff of Turkey’s Armed Forces over the death of a conscript of Armenian descent.
According to the Kurdish news agency Firat, the commission of protection of human rights and against racism and discrimination, said in a statement that the military are trying to downplay the case.
“After the killing of Sevak Shahin Balikci, the military declared that an investigation has been launched over the case,” read the statement.
“But without waiting for the results of the investigation, the military described the killing as an ‘accident’, thus distracting public attention and trying to hide the real causes of what happened,” it added.
Sevak Shahin Balikci died on April 24 at a military unit in Batman, South-eastern Anatolia in Turkey, where he was doing his service.
According to the official version, he died because of an injury caused by a “friendly fire” by one of his colleagues.
Further, the commission said that it made the decision to file the lawsuit against the General Staff because it was convinced that the military are trying to hide the real causes of Balikci’s death under the pretext of the investigation.
Following Balikci’s death, reports suggested that he was heavily beaten by his commander during the military service.
He was even threatened to be burnt.
Tert.am
English
