Deputy suggests team to investigate remains

DİYARBAKIR - Anatolia News Agency

It is too early to comment on the remains, Günay said in his visit to Diyarbakır. İHA photo

Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) deputy Altan Tan demanded the initiation of a parliamentary investigation regarding the bones and skulls unearthed during the excavations in the vicinity of a former gendarmerie building in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

“The public consensus is that these people were all killed and buried in a common grave. The Parliament should get involved in this issue, set up a team and investigate the murders as well as excavate the region,” Tan told reporters.

Tan said the officials still haven’t given exact information to the public regarding the exact number of bodies.

“There are claims in public saying that there are many bodies buried there,” Tan said. “There are a lot of missing people who haven’t been heard of in the region.”

The Food, Agriculture and Livestock Minister Mehmet Mehdi Eker on Jan. 22 announced that the number of human skulls found has increased to 19. Archeologists had unearthed human skulls and bones Jan. 11 during restoration work of a building formerly used by the Gendarmerie Intelligence Anti-Terrorism Unit (JİTEM) in Diyarbakır.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Tourism and culture Ertuğrul Günay visited Diyarbakır yesterday.
“We know that this site has been used for unfortunate and fatal incidents in the 90’s. However it is too early to say something before we receive a forensic medical report,” he said.