Main opposition asks PM about 12-year-old boy’s death

ANKARA

Nihat Kazanhan, a 12-year-old boy, was allegedly shot dead by police as he played with friends.

A Republican People’s Party (CHP) deputy has filed a parliamentary question for Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu to answer about the death of a 12-year-old boy in Turkey’s southeastern district of Cizre, stating either Davutoğlu and the interior minister lied before the public or they were misinformed.

“Right after the incident, the interior minister said tear gas and tear gas canisters were not used in the incident. The prime minister had repeated this claim,” read a part of the parliamentary question presented by CHP deputy Atilla Kart.

“The interior minister either made a false statement or was misinformed by the chief of police officers. The same is valid for the prime minister, too,” said Kart. “Neither of the situations is acceptable regarding state administration.”

Nihat Kazanhan, a 12-year-old boy, was allegedly shot dead by police as he played with friends.

According to an eyewitness only identified as E.S., police came to the Yafes neighborhood and told children playing there, “as long as you throw stones, we’ll shoot bullets at you,” before launching a barrage of tear gas and bullets at the children.

A police officer, identified as H.B., from Mardin’s special operations division was arrested and sent to prison late Jan. 28 in connection with the shooting of Kazanhan.

A day after the killing, Davutoğlu denied that the death of Kazanhan had come at the hands of the security forces. “I want to express clearly that it is out of the question that the boy who lost his life in Cizre was shot dead by our security forces’ bullets,” state-run Anadolu Agency quoted Davutoğlu as saying.

The Interior Ministry, however, later acknowledged that police might have been responsible. “According to the first findings of inspectors, there are suggestions that some of the security forces inside vehicles at the scene might be at fault in the incident,” the ministry said in a statement released Jan. 20.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan also said on Jan. 20 that the state was aware of “plots” in Cizre, suggesting that some parts of the security forces might be responsible for attempting to derail the Kurdish peace bid.

Seven people have been killed in violence in Cizre and the nearby district of Silopi since the end of last month.