Turkey’s Constitutional Court has ruled that the killing of an unarmed Kurdish woman by a soldier in 2016 did not constitute a violation of the right to life, renewing concerns over impunity in cases involving the security forces.
According to the Mezopotamya news agency, the case concerns the killing of 55-year-old Sürmi İnce in the Yüksekova district of Hakkari province. She was shot while carrying food to her children cutting grass nearby to feed animals. The soldier who opened fire from a military vehicle near a local outpost, Specialist Sergeant Ali Dalgıran, was convicted of causing death by negligence and sentenced to four years, eight months in prison, later reduced to three years, 10 months for good conduct. The Erzurum Regional Court of Justice upheld the sentence on appeal.
Prosecutors issued decisions of non-prosecution for the outpost commander and nine other military personnel.
The Constitutional Court found that Dalgıran did not act with intent to kill and ruled that İnce’s death resulted from negligence and carelessness rather than deliberate action, citing the soldier’s psychological state at the time as impairing his judgment.
İnce’s family had taken the case to the Constitutional Court, arguing her right to life had been violated and that the killing was motivated by racial discrimination and hatred. The court rejected both claims.
The family’s appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeals is still pending.
The family condemned the ruling, saying civilians in the region have repeatedly lost their lives to security force fire without effective investigation or prosecution. They said they will take the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR).
The case adds to longstanding concerns over impunity in Turkey, particularly in investigations involving the killing of Kurds by security forces, where human rights groups say flawed probes, decisions of non-prosecution and delays in judicial proceedings have repeatedly prevented accountability.
