In a controversial incident that took place in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari province, four people were killed by police gunfire on Saturday amid claims of a deliberate attack and police defense of an armored vehicle that had malfunctioned.
Writing about the incident on her Twitter account, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) İstanbul deputy Pervin Buldan said the police committed a “massacre” by deliberately opening fire on people engaged in a family feud. However, another former local HDP politician, Fikret Turgut, reported that the Yüksekova chief of police told him the armored police vehicle was not functioning properly and that the gunfire could not be stopped.
Aydın Tümen, Serhat Buldan, Rahmi Sefalı and Nejdet İşyözü were killed, while Şemsettin Çakmakçı and Mehmet Ali Kaya were wounded in the incident.
Hakkari Governor Cüneyt Orhan Toprak, on the other hand, told HDP deputy Selma Irmak that the police officer who opened fire had been detained and that an investigation has been launched into the incident.
The Doğan news agency reported that the feud broke out over money.