Aydın Taş, the father of Sefter Taş, one of two Turkish soldiers who were allegedly burned to death by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists in the al-Bab region of northern Syria, said he is going to court to have his son declared officially disappeared as Turkish officials have not yet contacted him about his son.
Aydın Taş is demanding a declaration of disappearance from a Turkish court for his son Sefter Taş, who was reportedly taken captive in September 2015 and burned alive by ISIL while serving as a conscript in the Turkish troops operating against the terrorist group, the Journo news website reported on Thursday.
ISIL released a video in December 2016 purportedly showing two captured Turkish soldiers being burned alive after Ankara vowed to fight “terror” in Syria in response to 16 of its troops being killed in battle, the Al Jazeera news website reported. The 19-minute video, showing two uniformed men being hauled from a cage before being bound and torched, was posted online and was supposedly shot in the ISIL-declared “Aleppo Province” in northern Syria.
Despite the 10 months that have passed since the release of the video, they haven’t been informed by government authorities, Taş said, adding that they had to go to court to demand a declaration of disappearance from Turkish authorities for his son as his attempts to seek information from the Turkish General Staff, Ministry of Defense and Land Forces Command have all proved futile.
Taş was reported to have said the court proceedings would take place on Monday and that the judge has informed him in advance that their case will be concluded and their son will officially be granted martyrdom.