PodcastPolice beat Kurdish family at Istanbul hospital
Two young Kurdish men living in Fatih were beaten by the police in their neighborhood. After their mother and uncle came to the hospital to visit them, they were also beaten by the police. The hospital's security camera recording of the incident is said to be lost.
Hacı Bişkin / DUVAR
An altercation following an ID check resulted in police beating a Kurdish family at an Istanbul hospital last week.
While 16-year-old Muhammet Yaman was on his way home in Istanbul's Fatih district, he was stopped by police who asked to see his ID. When they noticed that it was frayed, they asked him why he had not gotten it renewed.
Interpreting this as an insult, Yaman asked police why they were insulting him, after which they began to beat him. Muhammet's brother İnan saw this happening and rushed to his brother's side, where police beat him as well. The brothers were arrested and then taken to a nearby state hospital.
“I thought that my two sons were kidnapped," said their mother, Güler Yaman. "I asked the police at the hospital where my sons were. They said 'Your sons aren't here.' I held the police officer's hand and asked them to bring me my children. When I touched his hand they started to hit me, and my two sons ran to my side. They shouted 'Do not hit our mother!' at the police. The police laid them both down on the floor and handcuffed them behind the back,” Yaman claimed. The Yamans hail from the southeastern province of Bitlis.
“They kicked their heads and then sprayed tear gas in my son's mouth. While doing this the police screamed 'Hit them! Kill them!' and were cursing. They hurled insults at me. I couldn't handle it when I saw my children on the floor. In order to protect them I threw myself on the ground. As the curses continued my brother-in-law Mehmet came to our side and responded to the police. When he saw that they were torturing us he threw himself upon us, and the police beat his head with their guns,” Yaman added, which caused Mehmet to faint.
“I've never experienced anything like this in my life. When the police captain came to the hospital he requested the security camera recordings. Later on, when our lawyer asked for the recordings, they said that the camera was broken,” Yaman said.
Mehmet Yaman was then taken into intensive care at Istanbul's Haseki state hospital. His brother Habip said that he is only allowed to see his brother for ten minutes per day.
“The police come nearly every day to take a statement from my brother. But because he is unconscious he cannot give it. We will see those who did this to us in court. We will not stop pursuing this,” Habip said.
The beating occurred in the garden of the hospital's emergency department. When we asked the security team about the situation they said they hadn't heard anything about it. When we reached the head of security, he said “We have no information regarding the recordings. We will not give a response. If the prosecutor wants, the hospital administration will provide the necessary answer.”