The HPG issued a statement on the case of the Chaldean couple Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril who were abducted from Şırnak. According to guerrilla research, the two elderly civilians were kidnapped and murdered by counter-guerrilla forces.
The People's Defense Forces (HPG) Press Office released a statement on the fate of Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril from Beytüşşebap district of Şırnak. The Chaldean couple was abducted from their house in the village of Mehre (Turkish Kovankaya) on 11 January. On March 20, two of the couple's children found the body of 65-year-old Şimoni Diril on the bank of a nearby stream while 71-year-old Hurmüz Diril is still missing.
Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril are the parents of Chaldean priest Remzi Diril, commonly known as Father Adday, who is responsible for the pastoral care of thousands of Chaldean refugees and displaced persons from Iraq and Syria in Istanbul. The kidnapping of the priest's parents caused great concern among the Christian population in Turkey. Media close to the government quickly claimed that PKK fighters had kidnapped the couple. Children and other relatives of Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril found this more than unbelievable. A relative and neighbour of the two told the police that they had observed three people dressed in guerrilla uniforms kidnapping the elderly couple, but the man did not call the police. During his interrogation, he stated that he did not have a cell phone network at the time of his observation. In retrospect, this assertion apparently turned out to be false. Children of the couple also repeatedly indicated that relatives of the family who wanted to appropriate the land of Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril might have committed the crime and criticized the state authorities for shortcomings in the search for missing persons. Only once after the disappearance of the elderly couple, searches were carried out.
The HPG said on the case: "As is known, the couple Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril disappeared from their village Mehre on 11 January. In the meantime, our research on the incident has revealed that both civilians were kidnapped and killed by three counter-guerrilla forces on that day. Their bodies were most likely thrown into the Hezil River.
The Turkish occupying state ascribed the massacre perpetrated by the counter-guerrilla to our forces in an attempt to sweep this inhuman crime against the ancestral people of Mehre under the carpet. The innocent civilian population have not become the target of our movement at any time during the war in Kurdistan. We have always targeted enemy forces and those who attack our social values. Attacking the ancient Chaldean people is a testimony of the fascist mentality of the Turkish occupying state. It does not differ in the slightest way from the mentality of the so-called ISIS and is demonstrated with great clarity by vicious attacks on the ancient peoples of the region. Through its special war media, the Turkish state has also reported the massacre of Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril as was carried out by the PKK. The mercenaries of the genocidal occupying state are taking well-organized and fully deliberate action against the people of Kurdistan. We announce at this point that the massacre perpetrated by counter-guerrilla forces of fascist Turkey will be avenged. We express our sincere condolences to the relatives of Şimoni and Hurmüz Diril and the Chaldean people.”
The village of Mehrê is traditionally inhabited by Assyrian and Chaldean Christians. In the course of the bloody expulsion policy of the 1990s, the village was first depopulated in 1994 and then burned down by the Turkish military. Only in 2010 the state lifted the ban on entering Mehrê. Thereupon the Diril couple moved from Istanbul to Beytüşşebap again in 2015.
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