Huseyin Arasan, who comes from Mardin, succumbed to his bullet wounds in the hospital in Sulaymaniyah early on Saturday morning as a result of an attack the day before. He had been living in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq for some time due to political persecution in Turkey and was a member of the Mesopotamia Workers’ Association (KKM). Arasan is to be buried at the Mehmet Karasungur war cemetery in Qandil.

The body was brought to the Ahmedi Haci Ali Mosque in Sulaymaniyah today. At the funeral service in the mosque, KKM representative Musa Çiftçi criticised the security forces in southern Kurdistan (northern Iraq) and said: "Huseyin Arasan was attacked in front of our association, and he lost his life the following day. Dozens of our friends have been subjected to assassinations in the past. The perpetrators are known in each attack, but nothing is done to prevent these attacks. I remember Ferhat Bağışkondu, Mamoste Şemal, Şükrü Serhed, Nagihan Akarsel, Mehmet Zeki Çelebi as well as Hüseyin Türeli, who was shot dead in the last attack in Duhok."

The KKM association organises people living in southern Kurdistan who are politically persecuted in Turkey and have been recognised as refugees by the United Nations. Çiftçi pointed out that his association has made countless declarations and publicly stated its founding purpose: "We have explained to the media who we are. We are Kurdish politicians, and we are refugees. There is no other connection."

"They murder and flee to Hewlêr"

Çiftçi further stated: "Kurds are murdered in a Kurdish city and no one is punished for it. The perpetrators kill and flee to their capital, Hewlêr [Erbil]. In Sulaymaniyah there are surveillance cameras everywhere. What is the purpose of these cameras? People from northern Kurdistan are detained at every opportunity, but nobody says anything about a political murder of Kurds from North Kurdistan. For two days, neither the authorities in Sulaymaniyah nor the government of this country have said anything. As long as the murderers are not caught, please let no one lecture us on the subject of Kurdistan."

After the funeral service, a convoy of cars set off for Qandil. Huseyin Arasan will be accompanied by hundreds of people on his last journey.

Sixth deadly attack since September 2021

Since September 2021, five people have been murdered in targeted attacks. Most recently, Huseyin Türeli was shot dead in a shopping centre in Duhok on 18 April. Jineology (Women’s Science) activist Nagihan Akarsel was shot dead in the street in Sulaymaniyah on 4 October 2022. On 28 August 2022, the Turkish intelligence service MIT killed the author and historian Suheyl Xurşîd Ezîz, a member of the general assembly of the Tevgera Azadî (Freedom Movement), in front of his house in Kifri. On 17 May 2022, Zeki Çelebi was the victim of an armed attack in front of his restaurant in Sulaymaniyah and succumbed to his injuries one day later. On 17 September 2021, a member of the Committee of the Families of Martyrs, Yasin Bulut (Şükrü Serhed), was murdered in Sulaymaniyah. The day before, Ferhad Bariş Kondu from southern Kurdistan was seriously injured in an armed attack in Sulaymaniyah.