Turkey had another shining example of the freedom that their dictator, I mean president, allows. A human rights activist and lawyer who criticized the government for calling the PKK a “terrorist group” was himself gunned down in the street after a press conference.
Here’s video of the shooting:
More from Vice News:
An unidentified gunman killed a prominent Kurdish lawyer and rights activist on Saturday in what the pro-Kurdish HDP Party called a “planned assassination,” urging people to take to the streets in protest.
Witnesses said Tahir Elci was shot in the head after making a statement to media in Diyarbakir, the largest city in Turkey’s troubled, mainly Kurdish southeast where he was president of the local bar association. A policeman was also killed in an ensuing exchange of fire.
Elci had been criticized in Turkey for saying the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) was not a terrorist organization, though he had denounced PKK violence. He was facing trial over his comments which had infuriated state prosecutors.
Amazingly, Erdogan is actually blaming the group that Elci was defending, the PKK, with the shooting.
#Turkish President #Erdogan just claimed Tahir #Elci's killing was work of #PKK, despite fact that Elci was pro-#Kurd activst & defended PKK
— William Whiteman (@willmwhiteman) November 28, 2015
#Erdogan's paper said top Kurdish lawyer Tahir Elci signed his own death warrant by saying PKK is not terrorist https://t.co/5Luxc8kgm3
— B. H. Aktas (@haktas12) November 28, 2015
https://twitter.com/agitpropeyote/status/670609253019815937
Erdogan already spoke of death of chairman of Diyarbakir bar association Tahir Elci, claims it "shows the urgency of anti-terror campaign".
— Ayla Albayrak (@aylushka_a) November 28, 2015
Protesters in #Istanbul chanting: "He's a thief, he's a killer, #Erdogan!" following killing of Tahir #Elci
— William Whiteman (@willmwhiteman) November 28, 2015
That’s how disgusting Erdogan is – he uses the death of a political opponent he probably killed as justification for implementing more of his policies. Unbelievable.
Here’s what he said to the Wall Street Journal earlier this month about the PKK and Erdogan:
“Both sides are sharpening their knives,” said Tahir Elci, a prominent attorney and head of the bar association in Diyarbakir, the biggest city in Kurdish-dominated parts of Turkey. “Both sides are chasing utopian goals. Both sides are getting farther from what is reasonable.”
Elci had a twitter account. Either his friends or family posted one last tweet:
Hoşçakalın dostlar. İyilikle kalın. pic.twitter.com/IcRmFQ7DpZ
— Tahir Elçi (@tahirelci) November 28, 2015
It translates to, “Bye folks, with kindness.”
UPDATE:
Here’s another video that explains the story really well, including video with Elci speaking in English.
May he rest in peace.