Soldier kidnapped by ISIL killed, Turkey confirms after two years
Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants indeed kidnapped and killed the 22-year-old Turkish soldier Sefter Taş in September 2015, Turkish authorities have finally confirmed after visiting the fallen soldier’s family in the eastern province of Iğdır on Oct. 7.
“The garrison commander, Aralık district governor and Aralık gendarmerie commander came here. They told us our son was martyred. They offered their condolences and emphasized the importance of keeping the country strong,” Aydın Taş, Sefter Taş’s father, said on Oct. 9.
“If necessary, we, too, are willing to die to protect this country,” the father said. He told authorities he would not refrain from sending his four other sons to be sacrificed for the country.
The verdict of an absence lawsuit the family had filed against the government would have been handed on Oct. 9, had the authorities not informed the family of their son’s death on Oct.7.
“Today, the decision would have been announced, but now it is not necessary,” Taş said.
Sefter Taş’s mother, Senem Taş, confirmed his son was martyred and said “it is the country that matters.”
Since the incident in 2015, the family had been waiting for an explanation from the authorities.
The bleak period lasted for 25 months and 18 days for the Taş family.
After ISIL opened fire at the Martyr Mehmet Border Station in the southeastern border province of Kilis, Sefter Taş - a soldier of five months - was kidnapped as his companion was killed during the clashes.
ISIL had published a video and several stills on Dec. 22, 2016, claiming to show moments of setting two Turkish soldiers on fire.
One of the victims spoke Turkish in the video, saying his name is Sefter Taş.
Then-Deputy Prime Minister Numan Kurtulmuş had questioned the authenticity of the video.
