Turkish gov’t, opposition lawmakers slam naked detention of PKK suspects

ANKARA

Three parties in the Turkish parliament have united in criticizing a detention procedure that included stripping suspected militants of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) naked, daily Cumhuriyet reported on Oct. 5.

Lawmakers from the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) have slammed the stripping down of suspected PKK militants during their detention in the southern province of Muğla.

During a meeting between group deputy chairs of the parties in parliament on Oct. 4, the HDP brought the issue to the lawmakers’ agenda, slamming the detention method of seven suspected PKK militants and the circulation of their photos on social media.

“The suspects have been stripped naked and their photos have been taken by security forces before being exposed,” HDP Group Deputy Chairman Ahmet Yıldırım said, while demanding those responsible for the “inhumane procedures” to be punished by the Interior Ministry.

After Yıldırım’s speech, Deputy Parliament Speaker Ayşenur Bahçekapılı said the session would have a break and she would meet with the group deputy chairmen of the parties.

“I will look into this accident because I think we need to stand against torture as humans, no matter what our political views are,” Bahçekapılı said at the meeting. A deputy interior minister was present at the meeting since Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu was in Iran on Oct. 4.

According to information obtained by Cumhuriyet, AKP Group Deputy Chairman Bülent Turan and MHP Group Deputy Chairman Erhan Usta voiced their discomfort with the photos and said the situation was “unacceptable.”

In response, the Interior Ministry said an investigation had been launched and those involved in the incident would be sentenced.