Former head of Diyarbakır Bar Association and human rights activist Tahir Elçi was commemorated on the first anniversary of his murder in the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.
Elçi was shot dead by unknown assailants while making a press statement near a historic mosque in Diyarbakır on Nov. 28, 2015. To date, no light has been shed on his murder.
Elçi was briefly detained in October 2015 on charges of disseminating propaganda for a terrorist organization. He had been receiving death threats after saying on CNN Türk that he did not view the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization.
Members of the Diyarbakır Bar Association, main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) İstanbul lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu, pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) lawmakers Meral Danış Beştaş and Ahmet Yıldırım and representatives of NGOs also attended the commemoration ceremony on Monday for Elçi near the historic Kurşunlu Mosque, where Elçi was shot to death.