Shepherd Ömer Deniz was found dead in the Cewekûmbet (Tirkmene) hamlet in the district of Doğubeyazıt on the Turkish-Iranian border, which divides North and East Kurdistan.

On Thursday, the 33-year-old shepherd’s body was found about 200 metres away from a Turkish military checkpoint with severe head injuries. People close to Deniz report that he was repeatedly threatened by Turkish soldiers because he wore traditional Kurdish clothing. The soldiers are said to have repeatedly tried to force him to act as an agent, threatening him with violence. His body was taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute for post-mortem examination.

In the region, there are frequent extrajudicial executions of civilians. In 2020, the case of two civilians thrown out of a Turkish military helicopter in the neighbouring province of Van made headlines.