A Turkish court has acquitted five men accused of killing two Kurdish youths and wounding another during the 2014 Kobani protests in southeastern Turkey, sparking criticism from rights advocates over the 12-year delay in the case and the court’s refusal to collect additional evidence.
According to the NûMedya24 news website, the Midyat High Criminal Court in Mardin province ruled at the third hearing that there was insufficient evidence to convict the defendants on charges of intentional killing and intentional injury. Lawyers for the victims’ families said the court had rejected requests to collect additional evidence, including security camera footage.
The case concerned the killing of Bilal Gezer and Sinan Toprak and the wounding of Veysi Demir on October 7, 2014, in the Dargeçit district of Mardin during the nationwide Kobani protests, which erupted after the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) laid siege to the Syrian Kurdish town of Kobani.
The defendants included Abdurrahman Sayhan, a former district chairman of the Islamist Kurdish party HÜDA-PAR; party members Reşit Vural and Ziya Sayhan; and imam Kadri Şengül and his son, Musab Şengül, an employee of the local mufti’s office.
HÜDA-PAR is widely regarded as the political successor to Hizbullah, a radical Islamist group implicated in numerous killings during the 1990s and is currently allied with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).
The case remained under a confidentiality order for more than a decade before prosecutors completed an indictment in December 2025. Hearings began in March 2026, and the court delivered its verdict after only three hearings over a four-month period.
According to the indictment, searches of the suspects’ homes uncovered numerous unlicensed pistols and ammunition. Prosecutors also alleged that the suspects were carrying firearms near the crime scene at the time of the killings and were in frequent phone contact before and after the incident.
Family members of the victims said witnesses were reluctant to testify because of the defendants’ alleged links to HÜDA-PAR and Hizbullah.
Attorney Erdal Kuzu, who monitored the case on behalf of the Human Rights Association (İHD), said crucial evidence was never collected after the killings and criticized the court for reaching a verdict after only three hearings, arguing that the handling of the proceedings suggested the perpetrators were being protected.
Kuzu said the families would appeal the acquittals before a regional appellate court.
