Turkish ministry to pay compensation to family of man shot dead by police

İsmail Saymaz – ISTANBUL

An Istanbul court has ordered the Interior Ministry to pay 524,524 Turkish Liras (approximately $99,200) in compensation in a case on the killing of a 20-year-old man by a police officer in 2016.

The case concerns the death of Yılmaz Öztürk in Istanbul’s neighborhood of Küçük Armutlu on Feb. 21, 2016.

Police officers had allegedly warned the 20-year-old to stop, but fired shots at him after his alleged “disobedience” to the warning. They said they had “presumed” he was the assailant who had attacked the Küçük Armutlu police station.

Following the incident, Öztürk’s parents demanded compensation from the Interior Ministry, as police act under the command of the Interior Ministry in Turkey.

“The Interior Ministry personnel breached the authorities granted to them and sustained a damage to the complainants by abusing the opportunities of their official authority and duty,” said the Istanbul 6th Administrative Court in its ruling.

Following the killing of Öztürk, the authorities had found out that the 20-year-old in fact was not “running away” from the police, he did not have any criminal record, was not a member of any “illegal organization,” and was not carrying any weapon or ammunition at the time of the murder.

In a ruling on June 22, 2017, the Istanbul 16th High Criminal Court had given a sentence of 10 years to police officer Yasin Hiçyılmaz for killing Öztürk.