No findings that abducted Turkish teacher has been killed by PKK: Governor’s office

TUNCELİ

There is no information that an abducted Turkish teacher has been killed by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), the governor’s office in the eastern province of Tunceli has stated. 

Previous reports had said a 23-year-old teacher, Necmettin Yılmaz, was killed by a group of PKK militants after being abducted on a highway. 

The Tunceli Governor’s Office, however, stated that efforts to find Yılmaz, who has been serving as a teacher in the Çiftçibaşı village of the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa, are still ongoing.

“There has been no indication or findings that our teacher has been martyred and the efforts to find him are ongoing by our security forces,” said the statement released on June 22. 

The teachers’ union Eğitim-Bir-Sen also commented on the incident, saying Yılmaz is alive.

“It was discovered that our teacher is alive and is trying to be saved,” Eğitim-Bir-Sen wrote on its Twitter account. 

Yılmaz was reportedly driving on a highway en route to the Black Sea province of Gümüşhane for a vacation on June 16 when a group of PKK militants stopped his car. After he refused to meet the militants’ demands, the group reportedly opened fire and abducted Yılmaz, after which they set his car alight.

Speaking about the incident, Yılmaz’s cousin Necati Yılmaz also said news of the teacher’s death does not reflect the truth. 

“Some websites are saying that my cousin was martyred. Neither the Tunceli Governor’s Office nor the army confirmed this. We believe he will return safe and sound,” Yılmaz said. 

The lack of news about the teacher has deeply saddened his students, with all of them awaiting his return to the classroom. 

“He left after distributing our report cards. He was working for us and we loved him very much,” one of his students reportedly said. 

Yılmaz’s father, Hamit Yılmaz, meanwhile, has gone to the capital Ankara to request help from politicians regarding his son’s fate. He had previously applied to the Human Rights Association (İHD) for assistance.