HDP Adana MP Meral Danış Beştaş spoke to Mezopotamya News Agency (MA) about the investigation in Turkey and France about the murder of three revolutionary Kurdish women, its ties to the MİT and the current state of the lawsuit.

“TURKEY HELD BACK THE INFORMATION TO FRANCE”

Beştaş said the French state has taken the easy path in the ongoing investigation and didn’t conduct an effective and sufficient investigation: “France’s responsibility in these murders should not be ignored. They do have a huge role. Because France captured Ömer Güney and rested on its laurels as if everything was resolved. The prosecution had an investigation much longer than normal. It was actually known in the beginning that Ömer Güney was sick. I want to ask this too: Was Ömer Güney chosen as the perpetrator of this massacre because he was sick? These are all left unanswered. As a lawyer in the case and the then-chairperson of the BDP Legal Commission, I went to Paris numerous times for the investigation. We had the opportunity to follow the situation of the case in Paris as well. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office requested many pieces of information from Turkey first hand. They asked about Ömer Güney’s past, his ties to the MİT, his visits to Turkey recently, the hotel he stayed at in Turkey. But Turkey chose not to answer France in this matter, or they held back the answers France actually wanted. Up to now, Turkey has not sent any information to France that would enlighten the case and bring the murders and perpetrators to light. All their answers have been spreading the matter over time, open to interpretation and vague. France asked, and Turkey didn’t respond. But what did Turkey ask? Turkey demanded an investigation of the association records and Ömer Güney’s ties to the PK, rather than investigate the reason behind these deaths. Turkey attempted to prove that Ömer Güney was a member of the PKK. That has nothing to do with the case, because this is a case of 3 women being murdered.”

“INDICTMENT DETERMINED GÜNEY’S TIES TO THE MİT”

Beştaş stressed that the indictment prepared by the Paris Prosecutor’s Office on the murders did determine Güney’s ties to the MİT and said: “Despite this fact, Turkey chose to stay silent and not respond. The prosecutor states that they can’t get a response for the correspondence they send to Turkey. The request note, voice recording and phone numbers that surfaced in Turkey belonging to the MİT is a matter that the French Prosecution is taking into consideration in particular. They have put the onus on Turkey on this matter as well. The French Prosecution carried out a very long investigation, and couldn’t gather enough evidence, but it can be said that they did try to include some, if not all, of these ties in the indictment.”

“WE WERE BARRED FROM ACCESSING THE INVESTIGATION FILE IN TURKEY”

Beştaş spoke about the investigation in Turkey on the murders in Paris too: “Turkey, as always, launched an investigation to keep up appearances. The investigation started with the assumption of ‘intra-organization account settling’. Sakine Cansiz, Leyla Şaylemez and Fidan Doğan were listed as PKK members from the beginning in the investigation file. This alone established how one-sided the investigation would be, that it wouldn’t be neutral and independent. In the documents Turkey sent to France, they claimed that the deceased were members of the organization, and they needed to deepen the investigation in this area, in a very non-neutral way. This file was issued a confidentiality order, which has served to acquit perpetrators in massacres in the past. We were thus barred from accessing the investigation file. When we can’t see the data and the evidence, they are able to sway the investigation as they wish. We were able to acquire information on the investigation file for one time only in accordance with some changes to the Criminal Procedures Act in 201. 2 month later, another confidentiality order was issued for the case.”

Beştaş pointed out the KCK administrators’ statement regarding the high ranking MİT administrators captured in the Iraqi Federal Kurdistan Region, and that the MİT had planned the murders: “This is a very important statement for the murders, but we don’t have the details. When the MİT didn’t deny and say they don’t have anything to do with it, it became certain that they are in fact the ones who planned these murders. They said this themselves. But they say there are different wings among them. Whoever those wings may be, these murders were committed under the umbrella of the MİT. That is what is important for us. And it is a duty for the government and the judiciary to bring this to light. If they claim another wing did it, for instance if they claim the Fethullah followers did it, then those who don’t follow Fethullah should declare this. Why do they prefer to stay silent in this matter? The public is already strongly convinced that MİT is behind these murders. But the details are unknown, and are not included in the file. And the investigation file does not turn into a trial. What needs to happen now is the investigation to turn into a trial. I hope and wish that these MİT members announced by KCK officials will come and face justice in Turkey, and share what they know with the public in a just trial. We are waiting for this with all our attention and curiosity.”