The Turkish military has acknowledged that Sefter Taş, one of two Turkish soldiers who were allegedly burned to death by Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) terrorists after being taken hostage in 2015, was killed in Syria and that he has been granted martyr status, journo.com.tr reported on Monday.
According to Fırat Yeşilçınar, who recently interviewed Taş’s father for journo.com.tr, commanders from the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) visited Taş’s family and informed them that Taş had been given martyr status as he was killed by ISIL in Syria.
Yeşilçınar tweeted that a declaration of absence for Taş was finalized by a court on Monday, declaring him dead and a martyr.
Taş was seen in a violent ISIL video made public in December 2016, more than a year after his abduction. Authorities said they were investigating the images but no information was given as to the authenticity of the video or the situation of Sefter Taş.
Taş’s father, who filed a missing persons report in Iğdır province to find out if his son was still alive, said his wife has been suffering from psychological problems since her son went missing.
“Sometimes she wakes up and says, ‘Bring my son.’ She depends on medication to live. But until when? It will soon be almost two years. What is the government doing? Nobody asks us how we can continue to live. Those soldiers who were with my son are now back with their families. But our son is missing. Our only hope is God,” he said.