Turkish authorities deny burial for female guerrilla from Iran

Almost six months after her death, the body of female guerrilla fighter Kubar Hacizade, who died in Lice, was handed over to her relatives. Now authorities are refusing permission for her burial.

Even almost six months after her death, the guerrilla fighter Kubar Hacizade cannot be buried. After Turkish authorities refused to transfer her remains to Maku in Eastern Kurdistan (Iran) due to the closed borders, her burial in Northern Kurdistan is now also being obstructed.

YJA Star (Free Women's Troops) guerrilla Kubar Hacîzade (Rojda Cudi) fell a martyr alongside two other guerrillas in a clash with Turkish forces on 24 September 2019 in the countryside of Amed’s Lice district.

Father Ali Hacîzade came from Maku, Iran to Amed (Diyarbakır) to get the body of his daughter and applied on 27 January to MEBYA-DER, an association of solidarity with the families who lost their relatives.

The father then applied to the prosecutor’s office for procedures required to get the body but he was not shown the corpse on the grounds that it was unrecognisable. The father was later referred to Dicle University Hospital for a DNA test on 29 January and gave a blood sample before returning to Iran.

The remains of the fallen guerrilla were finally handed over to the lawyer of her family who cannot come to Turkey now due to the closure of borders over coronavirus threat.

As MEBYA-DER officials took Hacîzade’s remains to Doğubayazıt district of Ağrı province for burial, the hearse was stopped on the way near Bitlis province on the grounds that the district police department did not give permission for the funeral procession.

According to latest reports, it will be decided where Hacîzade’s remains will be buried after the lawyer’s application to Doğubayazıt prosecutor's office. The hearse is currently kept waiting near the Bitlis province.