SIRNAK, Turkey’s Kurdish region,— A video footage showing the dead body of a young Kurdish man being dragged behind a Turkish police vehicle emerged on Sunday after the photos of the incident circulated in the social media and sparked wide public outcry.

The footage, published on Turkish Kurdish media on Sunday appears to show the body being dragged while Turkish police officers on the vehicle are heard swearing at the dead body. One is heard congratulating his colleague for killing the man.

A photo from Şırnak shows 24-year-old young Kurdish man Hacı Lokman Birlik tied behind an armored Turkish police vehicle and dragged on the ground after his execution by special operation teams in Dicle neighborhood of Şırnak late Friday, ANF reported.

Eyewitnesses told that Birlik was first wounded in the armed attack of state forces, upon which special operation members came near him, shot him to death, and stepped on his head as they had a photo taken at the scene. Witnesses said the policemen later dragged Birlik’s body on the ground until they took it out of the street where they killed him in Dicle neighborhood.

As the youth’s body was later taken to Şırnak State Hospital by the people, hospital staff Menal Geçer was also battered by special operation teams as she brought a stretcher to carry him into the hospital. Geçer was later detained and taken to Şırnak police headquarters.

Hacı Lokman Birlik, the brother-in-law of pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) Şırnak deputy Leyla Birlik.

Speaking to reporters following the funeral, Leyla Birlik’s husband, Mehmet Birlik, said that they will not surrender to the AK Party despite all the pressure it is putting on Kurdish people. Sarıyıldız also told the press that it was “the barbarism of the AK Party that killed Birlik.”

HDP Co-President Selahattin Demirtaş who also published the photo of savagery on his Twitter account, said that; “Look at this photo very well. It was taken in Şırnak the day before. Nobody should forget about this photo, because we will not.”

The pro-government Akşam daily claimed on Sunday afternoon that dragging bodies in such a way was a “routine practice” that is performed across the world as a security precaution.

In the meantime, the Interior Ministry announced on Sunday afternoon that it has launched an investigation over the photos. In a written statement, the ministry said that all the claims regarding the photos will be investigated by the ministry.

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