A judge in Turkey’s southern Hatay province has accused a fellow judge of covering up the 2017 murder of a migrant child by a gendarme at the Syrian border.
According to the reporting of the Birgün daily, judge Mehmet Mustafa S. said fellow judge Nurseli Özalp U. acquitted the border guard of the murder of a Syrian child despite evidence linking him to the incident.
Judge S. said a group of 10 migrants, including small children, crossed the border and entered Turkey on September 2, 2017. The group hid in a cotton field but were detected with the help of thermal cameras.
Border outpost commander 1st Lt. Bekir Serdar K. took privates Arif S. and Yusuf S. and Sgt. Celil K. to the cotton field.
According to an anonymous witness, the group was ordered in Arabic and Turkish to reveal themselves and surrender. As the migrants emerged with their hands in the air, Bekir Serdar K. opened fire. Following these allegations, an investigation was launched, leading to the discovery of brain matter and blood in the field along with three bullet casings from Bekir Serdar K.’s gun.
Forensic investigations confirmed that the brain matter and blood found at the scene belonged to a human.
During questioning, Arif S. said the migrants were shot at despite surrendering. He claimed that one of the bullets struck a baby in its mother’s arms, injuring the woman in her arm. Another migrant was reportedly shot in the leg. Yusuf S. corroborated these allegations.
Border guard Mehmet B., who arrived on the scene shortly after the shooting, described seeing a woman holding a child, who appeared to be around 2 years old. “I saw the child was injured in the head and blood on the woman’s chest. Another man had been shot in the leg. They were later put in a gendarmerie vehicle and taken away,” he testified.
In his defense, Bekir Serdar K. admitted to opening fire after some migrants surrendered, claiming others remained hidden in the field. However, he insisted that no one was shot or injured and that the migrants were immediately deported.
Following the testimony of the border guards, the Kırıkhan Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office indicted Bekir Serdar K. on charges of “premeditated murder” and “gross misconduct” for deporting the migrants without following proper procedures.
Despite forensic evidence and multiple witness statements, Judge Nurseli Özalp U. acquitted the defendant, ruling that the absence of a body was grounds for dismissal. Bekir Serdar K. was also cleared of the misconduct charges.
No further investigation was conducted into the human remains found in the field.
A 2023 Human Rights Watch (HRW) report accused Turkish border guards of shooting, torturing and using excessive force against Syrians seeking to flee their war-racked country into neighboring Turkey.
“Turkish border guards are indiscriminately shooting at Syrian civilians on the border … as well as torturing and using excessive force against asylum seekers and migrants trying to cross,” HRW said in a statement.
Syria shares a long border with Turkey, which hosts some 3.6 million registered Syrian refugees. Turkey over the years has regularly allowed access for humanitarian and medical reasons, and at times has allowed Syrians to return home for family visits during major holidays. However, in the past two years the Turkish government has reinforced border restrictions.
