The Turkish parliament and government officials began separate investigations Monday into security forces’ killings of a 12-year- old boy and his father, both accused of belonging to a Kurdish rebel group. After the Nov. 21 slayings in the southeastern town of Kiziltepe, the provincial governor, Temel Kocaklar, said that “two armed terrorists” plotting attacks against military targets had died in a shootout with security forces. But according to human rights activists, who looked into the deaths, Ahmet Kaymaz, 31, and his son Ugur were probably unarmed and may have been killed mistakenly. In the wake of the killings, tensions between authorities and locals in Kiziltepe have been rising. On Sunday, hundreds of demonstrators calling for Kocaklar’s resignation clashed with police, and at least three were arrested and jailed on charges of disrupting public order. The controversy comes before a crucial European Union summit Dec. 17, when EU leaders are set to decide whether to launch accession talks with Turkey. Citing Turkey’s poor human rights record, the EU has long spurned Ankara’s demands for membership. Abuses have been especially prevalent in heavily Kurdish eastern Turkey, where rebels have led a 15-year insurgency for independence. Full Story
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