HDP Şırnak MP Faysal Sarıyıldız and Urfa MP İbrahim Ayhan have put down written questions in the Turkish Parliament demanding answers regarding the murder of Kader Ortakaya from Interior Minister Efkan Ala and Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. In the questions the MPs asked: “Why did soldiers who claimed they had ‘warned’ armed ISIS members who violated the Turkish border a week before Kader Ortakaya was shot, open fire at civilians without warning?”

HDP Şırnak MP Faysal Sarıyıldız has raised the shooting of Kader Ortakaya as she crossed the border to join the Kobanê resistance in the Turkish Parliament. He asked Interior Minister Efkan Ala regarding the killing of Ortakaya, quoting the words of Doctor Welat Omar in Kobanê, who said she was dead on arrival in hospital, having been hit in the head by a bullet.

‘A ‘warning’ for ISIS, bullets for civilians’

Sarıyıldız recalled that in the area where Kader Ortakaya was shot the Dicle News Agency had published footage of Turkish troops talking to ISIS members, following which the Turkish General staff had declared the soldiers had ‘warned’ the 2 ISIS members, refraining from using the word ‘terrorist’, to leave a mine field. “While the soldiers ‘warned’ members of this gang that are enemies of humanity, they opened fire without warning on civilians Kader Ortakaya and her friends without warning as they crossed the border”, said Sarıyıldız.

‘One person killed every week’

Sarıyıldız added that dozens of people had been killed on the Turkey-Rojava border and that on average one person had been killed by special police bullets every week. In his question Sarıyıldız said the lack of an effective investigation into these deaths and the ongoing impunity proved that these killings were not routine incidents of law and order, but had political motives. He called for there to be an immediate criminal investigation instigated into the murder of civilians at the border and for those responsible to be prosecuted.

Sarıyıldız asked Interior Minister Efkan Ala: "Why were shots fired at Kader Ortakaya and her friends when it was known they were civilians? Has an investigation been initiated into the officers who gave the order? Why were Kader Ortakaya and her friends deliberately fired at rather than being detained?  How many people have been killed or wounded on the Rojava border in the last two years? While your government has been in power how many people have been killed on the border? What is the distribution of these deaths by province? Have any ISIS members been killed, wounded or arrested while crossing the border in Hatay, Kilis and Urfa? How many ISIS members are in custody and how many have been released? Why did soldiers who claimed they had ‘warned’ armed ISIS members who violated the Turkish border a week before Kader Ortakaya was shot, open fire at civilians without warning?”

Ayhan asks Prime Minister

HDP Urfa MP İbrahim Ayhan also asked a question to Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, saying the death of university student Kader Ortakaya from a head wound proved that the shot had been aimed deliberately and had not been a warning shot.

Ayhan asked: "What was the reason for the attack on Kader Ortakaya? Why was she targeted? Is there any intelligence regarding her being deliberately targeted? In what law or regulation is it stipulated that warning shots should be fired at head level? How can you explain the complete lack of security measures in the border area where ISIS has control, whereas there are intensive security measures taken in the areas where the YPG has control? How many civilians have died in security forces attacks at the border? How many of these were Turkish citizens and how many citizens living in the Kobanê Canton? Is the post mortem examination of Kader Ortakya going to be made public? Do the security forces at the border see civilian citizens carrying out democratic protest at the border as a threat, rather than the ISIS terrorists?”