Mehmet Şerif Avar

person
Image
Image
Sex
Male
Civil status
Unknown
Date body found
Nov 5, 2004
Occupation
  • Peasant
Event description

According to the allegations stated in the ruling of the ECtHR dated May 31st, 2001, during a military operation under the command of Yavuz Ertürk of the Bolu Brigade and the regional gendarmerie near Alaca (Nedera) village of Kulp town (Diyarbakır), between October 8 and October 24-25, 1993, some eleven villagers, namely Abdo Yamık (48), Bahri Şimşek (41), Behçet Tutuş (44), Celal Aydoğdu (52), Hasan Avar (45), Mehmet Salih Akdeniz (68), Mehmet Şah Atala (41), Mehmet Şerif Avar (24), Nesrettin Yerlikaya (40), Ümit Taş (16) and Turan Demir (34) were detained by security forces and not heard from again. Per witness accounts, these eleven individuals were picked up individually or in groups of two/three and delivered elsewhere via helicopters.

Upon the insistence of relatives, the Public Prosecutor in Kulp started an investigation concerning the 11 missing individuals. However, the investigation led nowhere and the families eventually applied to the European Court of Human Rights. The decision of the ECtHR on May 31, 2001 found the state to be in violation of articles 2, 3, 5, 13 and the old article 25 of European Convention of Human Rights and required the government to pay compensation to the victims’ families.

The village was forcefully evacuated the same year. When people began to return to the villages in the 2000s, the remains of the bones of 8 individuals were discovered in a dried-out river bed close to the Kepir hamlet of Alaca village in 2003. DNA analysis in 2004 linked eight of the victims, namely Mehmet Salih Akdeniz, Behçet Tutuş, Turan Demir, Nesrettin Yerlikaya, Mehmet Şerif Avar, Hasan Avar, Abdo Yamık ve Bahri Şimşek to their living relatives.

Just before the statute of limitations in 2013, a court case accusing retired military commander Yavuz Ertürk of enforced disappearance of 11 villagers was opened. The first instance court returned a verdict of not guilty on 19th of September 2018. The case details can be reviewed at http://failibelli.org/en/dava/the-kulp-yavuz-erturk-case/.

Geolocation

Latitude: 38.5258521

Longitude: 41.1422334

Geolocation
City
Diyarbakır
District
Kulp
Date of disappearance
Oct 1, 1993
Year of disappearance
1993
Age at the time of disappearance
Yaş:24
Status of the victim
Discovered dead and returned to the family
Latest status as suspect in the act
  • The Supreme Court dismissed the case due to the statute of limitations
  • Yargılandı fakat beraat etti
Decision by the prosecution office
Davada delil yetersizliği nedeniyle beraat kararı verildi; Yargıtay davayı zamanaşımı sebebiyle düşürdü
Name of the court case
Case of Yavuz Erturk
Verdict of ECHR
  • Violation of the right(s)
Articles violated according to ECHR verdict
  • Article 13: Right to an effective remedy
  • Article 2: Procedural violation of the right to life
  • Article 2: Substantive violation of the right to life
  • Article 3: Prohibition of torture in respect of the forced disappeared
  • Article 5: Right to liberty and security
  • Former Article 25: Individual applications
Summary of the legal proceedings

According to the allegations, during a military operation under the command of Yavuz Ertürk of the Bolu Brigade and the regional gendarmerie near the Alaca (Nedera) village of Kulp town (Diyarbakır) in between October 8 and October 24-25, 1993, some eleven villagers, namely Abdo Yamık (48), Bahri Şimşek (41), Behçet Tutuş (44), Celal Aydoğdu (52), Hasan Avar (45), Mehmet Salih Akdeniz (68), Mehmet Şah Atala (41), Mehmet Şerif Avar (24), Nesrettin Yerlikaya (40), Ümit Taş (16) and Turan Demir (34) were detained by the security forces and not heard from again. Per witness accounts these eleven were picked up individually or in groups of two/three and delivered elsewhere via helicopters.

Public Prosecutor in Kulp started an investigation after the relatives of the eleven missing villagers applied to several public institutions to learn the whereabouts of their loved ones and repeatedly filed petitions to public prosecution offices. However, the Prosecution Office gave a decision of non-prosecution just after a short while and sent the file to Diyarbakır Office where the investigation was carried out on the basis of an insubstantial presumption that the villagers were abducted by PKK and closed the investigation down in April 1997.

Since the investigation led nowhere the families eventually applied to the European Court of Human Rights. The decision of ECHR on May 31, 2001 found the state to be in violation of articles 2, 3, 5, 13 and the old article 25 of European Convention of Human Rights and required the government to pay compensation to the victims’ families.

The village was forcefully evacuated the same year event took place. When the returns to the villages started in the 2000s, the remains of bones of 8 individuals were discovered in a dried-out river bed close to the Kepir hamlet of Alaca village in 2003. DNA analysis in 2004 linked eight of the victims, namely Mehmet Salih Akdeniz, Behçet Tutuş, Turan Demir, Nesrettin Yerlikaya, Mehmet Şerif Avar, Hasan Avar, Abdo Yamık ve Bahri Şimşek to their living relatives.

Just before the statute of limitations in 2013, a court case accusing retired military commander Yavuz Ertürk of enforced disappearance of 11 villagers was opened. The first instance court returned a verdict of not guilty on 19th of September 2018. Case details can be reviewed at http://failibelli.org/en/dava/the-kulp-yavuz-erturk-case/