Democratic Regions Party (DBP) Şırnak provincial chairman Hurşit Külter has been missing since May 27, with law enforcement denying he was detained despite witness accounts to the contrary.
Külter’s family and loved ones have been unable to obtain a sufficient response from officials for 100 days. “There is no door left that we haven’t knocked on. We have heard no news about my Hurşit. Dead or alive, I want my son. I always think of him: Where is my son? What did they do to him,” said his mother, Kerime Külter, as reported by the T24 news-website.
On June 23 Minister of Defense Fikri Işık stated that the Ministry of Interior had appointed an inspector to investigate the issue.
Witnesses claim Külter was detained by police as the Week of Missing People was being observed between May 17 and 31. On May 27 twitter user “BÖF,” which is believed to belong to police special forces in the region, shared photos showing that Külter had been detained. But later, the tweets were deleted and the account suspended for hours.
Human rights organizations are exerting efforts to locate Külter. A total of 43 petitions were filed with the Ministry of Interior by a group of attorneys and civil rights groups. However, only one of the petitions received a response from the Ministry of Interior, which said the issue did not fall under its jurisdiction.
No progress has been made despite petitions to the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights, say friends of Külter.
Hurşit Külter is the first disappeared person in Şırnak province in 15 years. A total of 211 people have gone missing in Şırnak since the 1980 military coup.