“Why Do Those Who’Ve Called On For ‘Peace’ Now Utters ‘War To The End’?” Asks Commander Brother Of Martyr

İbrahim Emül - Salih Üçtepe - Çağlar Öztürk / Osmaniye, Aug 24
“This person belonging to the nation is only 32 years old. He couldn’t get enough of his beloved ones, of his nation. Who is the murderer? Who is the reason of this? Why do those who have called on for ‘peace’ before, now shout “war till the end” now? You can’t declare you desire to “achieve martyrdom”, then ramble around with 30 security guards, in armed vehicles” slammed the grieved brother, and sparked new debates on social media with the video marking this moment.

The participation of MPs in the AKP to the funeral has sparked an outrage among relatives of the killed gendarmerie captain, during the funeral prayer. Among the large crowd, a person shouted at the MPs having come to the front line “You have no rights to be here! Get out of here”. Another cried “I am a relative of the martyr. What are these people doing in front of me?”

Gendarmary Captain Ali Alkan had died after a terror attack over Ayvalık Gendarmerie Station in southeastern province of Şırnak, in the Beytüşşebap district where security tension with outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party continues amid severe clashes.

In 2013, Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) had launched talks with PKK’s jailed leader Abdullah Öcalan to find a resolution to the decades-old Kurdish issue. However, after a partial ceasefire, the Kurdish peace process has come to a halt after PKK attacks on Turkish security forces and the Turkish government’s airstrikes on the PKK base camps in northern Iraq, in 2015.

While some has linked this switch to a so-called failure of the AKP during June 7 elections and a response to the ballot box with an “election war”, a part of the society and political figures such as Turkish Energy Minister Taner Yıldız even have declared their desire to “achieve martyrdom”, applauding the recent policies against terror attacks.