Cafe owned by wife of slain Kurdish lawyer targeted with stun grenades, gunfire

A cafe in Turkey’s southeastern city of Diyarbakır owned by Türkan Elçi, a member of parliament from the Republican People’s Party (CHP) and widow of slain Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elçi, was attacked Thursday night with stun grenades and gunfire, local media reported on Friday.

The attack targeted the Karga Cafe in the Sur district, which is owned by Türkan Elçi, along with the neighboring Hevş Cafe. Both establishments were attacked with stun grenades and gunfire, according to local reports.

The attacks follow threats made against these cafes, which were reportedly conveyed to the police prior to the incident. Bahoz Damlayıcı, owner of the Hevş Cafe, confirmed that he had informed the police about the threats.

This marks the second attack on cafes in Diyarbakır in recent weeks. On June 19 the Sihirbazın Mekanı cafe in Suriçi was also attacked by unidentified individuals. Hasan Asoiaf, owner of Sihirbazın Mekanı, said he had been threatened before his cafe was shot at.

Türkan Elçi is the wife of Tahir Elçi, a prominent human rights lawyer and former president of the Diyarbakır Bar Association who was killed in November 2015. Tahir Elçi was shot in the head during a press conference in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakır’s Sur district, caught in a clash between Turkish police and members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Last month a Turkish court acquitted three police officers accused of causing Tahir Elçi’s death, citing a lack of sufficient evidence and uncertainty about who fired the fatal shot. The Diyarbakır 10th High Criminal Court’s decision sparked protests from lawyers and human rights activists who claimed that justice had not been served.

The court’s reasoned decision, issued on Wednesday, emphasized the lack of concrete evidence, such as camera footage or witness statements, regarding the moment of Elçi’s death. It stated that a conviction could not be based on interpreting suspicious events and allegations against the suspects.

Masum Batı, president of the Tahir Elçi Foundation, criticized the court’s decision, accusing it of failing to clarify the suspicious aspects of the murder. He described the 27-page judgment as a mere listing of actions taken without proper explanation or discussion of evidence.

Lawyers for the Elçi family have previously criticized the handling of the case, alleging that key evidence, including 40 bullet casings, was mishandled or destroyed. Türkan Elçi said the bullet that killed her husband was never found.

A 2019 report by Forensic Architecture concluded that Elçi was most likely killed by one of three police officers present at the scene. However, this evidence was reportedly not given due consideration during the trial.