Tension As Bodies Of YPG Militants Denied Entry Into Turkey

Bodies of 13 members of the Syrian Kurdish militia group YPG who were killed in clashes with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in northern Syria have been denied entry into Turkey for days, despite protests from families of the deceased and the pro-Kurdish opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP).

Private broadcaster CNN Türk reported on Saturday clashes between a group of protesters and the security forces near Habur border gate between Iraq and Turkey. The protesters closed a road to traffic while the security forces used tear gas and water canons to disperse the group, it said.

The bodies have been kept in a refrigerated container on a truck for seven days on the Iraqi side of the Habur gate, awaiting permission from the Turkish side to proceed into Turkey.

Some HDP deputies have joined a group waiting near the border gate for days to receive the bodies and bury them. Families have applied to the public prosecutor's office to receive the bodies but they were told that it was up to the Interior Ministry, not the prosecutor's office, to authorize the entry of the bodies into Turkey.

Ferhat Encü, a HDP deputy from the border province of Şırnak, denounced the decision to deny entry to the truck carrying the bodies as an “arbitrary” one, not backed by any law. He said the bodies were not allowed into Turkey due to a verbal instruction to the local authorities from the government.

“There is no such article in the Constitution or in the laws,” Encü said, saying the decision was a part of an “all-out campaign against the Kurds.”

He said the group would continue to wait on the border until the bodies are handed to the families and promised that they will start a hunger strike in case the bodies are not allowed into Turkey.

“It is disrespectful to the deceased, to their families and to the state to keep the bodies waiting for days in a truck,” said Nuşirevan Elçi, the head of the Şırnak Bar Association. “It is not humane not to allow a person's body into the country and prevent the burial proceedings.”

YPG, the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), is separate from but closely aligned with the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Turkey launched air strikes on the PKK targets late last month, for the first time since 2012 when a peace process was launched, although it says the Syrian Kurdish forces are not a target of the operations.

Scores of Turkish Kurds are believed to have traveled to Syria to join the YPG ranks to fight against ISIL. (Cihan/Today’s Zaman)