Turkish security forces’ armored vehicle kills 55-year-old woman in Bitlis

Gülten Yaraşlı, a 55 years old Kurdish woman, was ran over by an armored vehicle of Turkish security forces on Hizan-Tatvan while on the way to visit her father in Gökçimen neighbourhood in Hizan district of Bitlis.

Following the incident which took place on Thursday morning, Yaraşlı was taken to Hizan Public Hospital. After emergency treatment the woman was referred to Tatvan Public Hospital, however she lost her life shortly after.

The armored vehicles used by Turkish police or soldiers have frequently killed citizens in Kurdish dominated Southeastern Turkey.

A Turkish court has released a police officer who drove an armored vehicle as patrolling in Karşıyaka neighborhood in southeastern province Şırnak’s Silopi district and crashed into a home on early May and killed 7 and 6 year-old brothers, during his first hearing.

2nd High Criminal Court in Cizre district of Şırnak province has released police officer Ömer Yeğit who has been pre-trial detention since he killed Muhammed Yıldırım (7) and his 6-year-old brother Furkan Yıldırım as they were sleeping at home during the tragedic incident at the midnight.

An old woman named Pakize Hazar had also lost her life when she was hit by an armored vehicle used by Turkish security forces as she was trying to cross a street in Lice district of Diyarbakır province on June 14. It was reported that the armored vehicle left the area after the fatal incident while the old woman’s body was taken to Halis Toprak Hospital in Lice for the autopsy.

It was reported that a Cobra type armored vehicle had hit 71-years-old Naciye Özdemir as she was trying to cross the road in Seyit Rıza Square in Tunceli city center, killing the old woman on Sept. 6, 2016.

Seven years-old Berfin Dilek was also hit and killed by an armored police vehicle on her way home from school in Dargeçit district of Mardin province on Feb. 9, 2017

A fifty-five years-old woman, named Hatun Elhuman, was hit and killed by a military armored vehicle on Gevran Avenue in Diyarbakır city center on April 27, 2017.

Also 2 people were hit by an armored police vehicle and Sami Uçan lost his life in the hospital in Van province on April 28, 2017. In the same province, 7 people were also injured by armored vehicles in the following week.

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