The HDP (Peoples’ Democratic Party) has released a preliminary report on the attack in Suruç, province of Urfa, on June 14. Five people lost their lives.

The report confirmed there was a lynch at the hospital, an event that was tried to be dismissed as false.

The report says that Esvet Şenyaşar and his sons, who were slaughtered by AKP members, have been shopkeepers and worked for 25 years behind the Council building in Suruç.

The HDP states that on 12 June AKP deputy candidate, Ibrahim Halil Yıldız, who was carrying out his election campaign work, engaged in a verbal discussion with members of the Şenyaşar family. This discussion ended with no violence.

What happened on 14 June was reported as follows: “AKP candidate Yıldız and his relatives returned to the workplace of Şenyaşar family. This time the verbal discussion turned into a violent one when the deputy candidate Yıldız and people accompanying him attacked brothers Adil, Celal and Ferit Şenyaşar with long barreled weapons and pistols.

As a result of this attack, Adil and Celal Şenyaşar, who had been wounded, were taken to the emergency service of Suruç State Hospital by ambulance. The third brother, Ferit was brought to Balıklıgöl State Hospital in Urfa center.

Esvet, the father of the three men, walked to Suruç State Hospital to stay close to his two sons.

Acting upon instructions of AKP Urfa candidate Yıldız, his relatives destroyed the security cameras in the hospital first and then, killed one of the two sons of Esvet Yaşaroğlu while he was under treatment in emergency department, and the other son in front of Suruç State Hospital.

Esvet Şenyaşar was beaten with an oxygen cylinder and taken in serious conditions to the 25 Aralık Hospital in Gaziantep. He lost his life on 15 June while his sons were buried in Suruç.

HDP delegation in Suruç

The HDP delegation reached Suruç on 15 June to carry out its own investigation.

The delegation included Ayşe Acar Başaran, HDP co-chair and Batman MP; Meral Danış Beştaş, Adana MP; Nimetullah Erdoğmuş and Sibel Yiğitalp, Diyarbakır deputies and Urfa candidate and DBP co-deputy chair Hacer Özdemir.

The findings were detailed as follows:

“Our delegation visited the scene of the incident. Security cameras were clearly visible at the scene of the incident. The information on the incident was confirmed by many customers and tradesmen present on the day of the event.

On 14 June at 3.30pm, on the street called “Bir Miliyoncu Street”, AKP Urfa deputy candidate İbrahim Halil Yıldız, accompanied by his delegation and his armed bodyguards, visited shopkeepers and on his way went to a shop called İstanbul Ucuzluk Pazarı owned by Esvet Şenyaşar”.

The report goes into details of how the AKP candidate wanted to enter the shop but was told by Adil Şenyaşar there were women costumers inside and that they might feel unconformable so better if he wouldn’t go in. The reaction of the candidate was violent and aggressive as he wanted to enter. Things went out of hand and the discussion grew, until one of the men accompanying Yıldız slapped Adil. Things degenerated and a gun shot was fired hitting the foot of Adil Şenyaşar.

At this point the AKP candidate’s relatives and bodyguards were attacking Adil Şenyaşar with a stick and a knife. Meanwhile, Adil Şenyaşar's brother Ferit Şenyaşar, at a nearby shop, went to scene with a gun and opened fire on the deputy’s armed men when he heard that his brother had been wounded.

The result of these hectic moments was a number of fire gun injured, including an unidentified man, Celal Şenyaşar and İbrahim Halil Yıldız’s brother Mehmet Şah Yıldız, who later died.

Among the witnesses the report quotes a person who didn’t want to be named and said was in the hospital during the incident.

“I went to the hospital to visit a close relative at 5 pm. - the witness said - At that very hour I learned that the wounded were brought to the hospital. Inside and outside of the hospital there was a huge crowd. Because everybody knows each other in Suruç, soon the relatives of AKP candidate İbrahim Halil Yıldız filled the hospital.

There were many riot police at the door as relatives of the deputy candidate entered the hospital, but the police did not prevent them from entering. At that time I did not enter the hospital because I was afraid, but I could hear people shouting in Kurdish. Sounds of gunshots came from the inside. And they started applauding”.

Other statements confirmed that the three brothers’ father, Esvet Şenyaşar, was attacked by relatives of the AKP candidate and lynched.

“Esvet Şenyaşar's head was smashed - said a hospital worker - while he was inside the hospital and the wall of the yellow section of the emergency department got red with his blood”.

Servet Gören, Provincial chair of the Republican People's Party (CHP) confirmed the main witness statements, saying that the family of shopkeepers was assaulted by the AKP candidate’s relatives.

Urfa Treasury Chamber President Ömer Malik confirmed that after the incident they visited the Suruç State Hospital and as a result of their observations no security measures were taken after the incident, no work was done to collect the evidence in a proper way by the public prosecutor's office. The hospital became a battlefield, according to the information we received, with a group of 100-150 people entering the hospital and attacked the injured”.

Camera records showing the murders of Esvet Şenyaşar and his son Celal could not be visioned by the HDP delegation. “Blood traces in the emergency room were cleared before the incident investigation team arrived. The blood stains on the walls were hastily cleaned and the wall repainted, and the evidence was tried to be removed. It has been observed that health workers had been threatened and did not want to talk”.

In the end the report states:

"During the lynch attempt in the hospital, the Urfa Governor, Suruç District Governor, Minister Eşref Fakıbaba were identified by eyewitnesses outside the hospital. At the time of the incident, deputy Nimettullah Erdoğmuş told us that the Urfa Governor was at the hospital”.

The HDP report ends saying: “While the information that the eyewitnesses convey to the delegation is quite appalling, the rhetoric of the government using the media to spread its hate language is also so alarming.

We urge all human rights organizations, especially the Human Rights Association, to investigate this incident and make sure light is shed on what happened in Suruç”.