The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported on June 7 that a young Kurdish woman was found dead in Al-Fayraziyah village near the city of Azaz.
According to SOHR sources, the victim was 16-year-old Melek Nebîh Xelîl from the Sharra district of Afrin. She was kidnapped by a member of the notorious, Turkish government-backed “Sultan Murat Brigade” after she refused to marry him. Sources claimed that the gunman raped the girl and forced her into marriage.
There are also claims that the recovered body belongs to an “honor killing” victim, not Xelîl, and that a couple has been arrested for the murder.
Ayşe Sürücü, a deputy from the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), has submitted the following parliamentary questions to Turkish Vice President Fuat Oktay regarding the incident and the Sultan Murat Brigade:
- Did you know about the killing of Melek Nebîh Xelîl by the Sultan Murat Brigade in the Kurdish city of Afrin, which you claim to be in control of?
- Where was Melek Nebîh Xelîl kept from May 18 to June 5? Will you investigate the murder?
- Do you have data regarding the number of murders committed up until the present time by the Sultan Murat gang? If not, do you know that it is a war crime not to record the crimes committed by the Free Syrian Army (FSA), which is supported by the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK) and gangs linked to the FSA?
- Will you take any steps regarding the war crimes committed by the TSK-supported FSA and the gangs linked to the FSA as mentioned in United Nations reports?
In her parliamentary question, Sürücü also said: “SOHR has reported that close to 150 child soldiers were sent to Libya on May 14 to fight the Haftar forces. The report mentioned that most of these child soldiers were part of the Sultan Murat Brigade. The TSK needs to distance itself from gangs like the Sultan Murat Brigade that kill and rape children and occupy territories in order to plunder them. They also must end the military presence in the Kurdish city of Afrin right away.”
