Nasır Taş and Ramazan Aktaş from the Binahare territory in the Yufkalı (Nêrduşe) village of Hakkari’s Şemdinli district were tortured by Turkish soldiers on an operation as they took their sheep to the pasture yesterday.

According to an article on the Mesopotamia Agency (MA), the shepherds had taken their sheep to the pasture early in the morning when they were cut off by a group of soldiers from the Durak (Durê) outpost, and tortured with butts of weapons and batons, as well as slapped and kicked.

TORTURED AND LEFT TO DIE

Soldiers first tortured Nasır Taş and Ramazan Aktaş until they passed out, and then left the men out on the open to die and left the area. The shepherds were discovered hours later by their relatives and were immediately taken to the Şemdinli Public Hospital to be treated. Ramazan Aktaş has since been discharged while Nasır Taş is under observation and his treatment continues. Taş has a fracture on his malar bone and shows signs of torture on his shoulders, arms and many areas of his body.

SPEAKING ABOUT THE TORTURE AND THE AFTERMATH

Still under treatment, Nasır Taş (56) spoke about his experience. Taş said a group of 8 soldiers came to them and asked them where the PKK members were, if they had seen them, and who was aiding them. Taş said: “We told them that we just woke up and took our animals out, that we didn’t know. As soon as we said that, the soldiers started to torture us. They took my walking stick and started to beat me with it. Then they beat us with the butts of their guns, they kicked and slapped us for a long time. After this torture they took me to the riverside, pushed my head in the water and said, ‘You are a terrorist, we will kill you.’ They beat us for over 2 hours.”

Taş said he told the soldiers he was fasting but they continued with the torture, and he said “Do you not believe in Allah? Why do you do this?” but the torture increased.

Taş said the soldiers fired 4 shots right beside him during the torture and that he is lucky to be alive.

Taş said they lost consciousness due to the torture and that their relatives found them hours later at the top of the mountain in a woodland area out of sight, that they had been left for dead: “The incident happened at 08.00 in the morning. After we lost consciousness, women came to milk the sheep by noon and couldn’t see us, so they set out to search for us. After a while they found us in that remote place, unconscious, and told the villagers. Then we were brought to the hospital.”

Ramazan Aktaş and Nasır Taş have battery reports and will press charges.