Kemal Selimî (nom de guerre Gelî Berîtan), a member of the People’s Defense Forces (HPG), was killed on September 2, 2020, in a drone attack in the Silopi district of Şırnak. For the past five years, his family has been unable to recover his body.

 

After receiving news of his death, Selimî’s family traveled from the Salmas district of Urmia, Iran, to Şırnak on October 12, 2020. When their efforts failed, they returned to Rojhilat (Iranian Kurdistan). The family made three separate trips to Şırnak to claim the body but were each time turned away with the explanation that “the DNA results have not come out.”

 

Despite waiting for more than five years and repeatedly appealing to the authorities, their efforts have led nowhere.

 

The family then hired a lawyer and filed a criminal complaint. In response to petitions sent by the lawyers to the Ministries of Justice and Interior, they were told only that “the process is ongoing and an official reply will be provided once it is concluded.” However, years later, the body has still not been released. Each time, officials have told the family that “the body does not exist.”

 

Meanwhile, pro-government media outlets published reports and photographs on September 18, 2020, providing the identities of Kemal Selimî and another HPG member said to have been killed in the same attack.

 

‘WHERE IS HIS BODY?’

 

Speaking about their ordeal, Kemal Selimî’s brother, Argeş Selimî, said that their years of effort have brought no results.

He said: “My brother died in a clash in 2020. It was during the pandemic, a very difficult time. I went to Şırnak to claim the body, but they told me that my mother or father had to come. My father had passed away, and my mother couldn’t travel due to COVID. It was very difficult, we were coming from another country. I returned to Iran, and later they called saying I could come to give a blood sample. I gave my sample, but four or five months later, they told me, ‘there is no match.’

 

Later, I went back with my mother. They took her sample as well, and six months later they said again that there was no match. The body of the other person killed in the same place was given to his family, but my brother’s was not. How can that be? Two people die in the same place, one family receives the body the next day, and the other is told the DNA doesn’t match. Each time, they told us, ‘we can’t help you.’ We applied everywhere, but nothing came of it. Finally, officials told us, ‘we won’t take any more DNA samples — it’s too costly.’”

 

‘WE WANT THE TRUTH’

 

Selimî emphasized that the family’s only demand is for the truth to come out. He concluded: “We want this case to be clarified. Why is the body of a person who has died being withheld? A peace process has been launched — they should act accordingly and return the body. What happened to my brother? We deserve an answer. For five years, we’ve heard nothing. Even our lawyer’s petitions have gone unanswered. Our demand is simple: either return the body or at least give us a clear explanation.”

 

MA / Zeynep Durgut