Police officer suspended after filming music video in curfew-imposed town

DİYARBAKIR

A police officer who filmed a music video in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır’s curfew-imposed Sur district was suspended on April 28. The police officer, whose identity was not disclosed, had posted a video on YouTube on April 26 praising the security officials killed in Sur, drawing a sharp rebuke from social media users. 

“Hit for Allah, hit for the prophet, hit for our martyrs,” the lyrics of the music video read, while the masked police officer was seen holding a gun in a severely damaged house. 

The ruined streets of Sur are seen in the video, which was filmed with professional equipment and drones. 

Security operations and clashes between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces in Sur have been continuing since the curfew was imposed on Dec. 2, 2015.

“A police officer was suspended as a result of the investigations,” a statement released from the Diyarbakır Governor’s Office read, while adding that no appeal for permission to shoot the video was made. 

The names of soldiers who died during clashes with PKK militants were seen at the end of the video. 

Deputies from the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) criticized the video, while they gave a parliamentary question to Interior Minister Efkan Ala asking how permission to shoot the video was given.