The Turkish authorities are no longer handing over the bodies of YPG/YPJ fighters who lost their lives in Kobanê to their families, after a decision taken by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the grounds that funerals are being used as election propaganda.

While the ruling AKP party increases tension in the pre-election atmosphere, it is now refusing to hand over the bodies of martyred YPG/YPJ fighters brought to North Kurdistan to their families as it claims that the funeral ceremonies are used as election propaganda.

The bodies of YPG/YPJ fighters who lost their lives in different times, Mazlum Aşkan (Canşer Cembiri), İsmail Oktay (Rênas Şoreşger) and Bahar Tuğluk (Beritan Batman), could not be taken by the families from the Forensic Institute in Urfa as the prosecutor refused to come to the Institute.

DBP Urfa branch co-chair İsmail Kaplan said the Ministry of Internal Affairs has taken a new decision to not allow the bodies of the YPG/YPJ fighters to be sent to North Kurdistan, adding that they were informed that these were the last ones that the Ministry would allow to enter the country. Kaplan said that was the reason why the prosecutor did not come to the Forensic Institute to accompany the handing over of the bodies to the families.

Kaplan said it is the AKP that is making use of the issue as a matter of politics. Kaplan said they never play politics over human life and the death of their children, adding that it is the morality of the AKP not the DBP, recalling the attempted provocation by the AKP in Tendürek, Ağrı, where 15 soldiers were sent, with the intention that they be killed.

MEYADER representative Şükrü Baytar also strongly reacted to the decision of the Ministry and said they will not accept the decision as martyrs are the red line of the Kurdish people, adding that the people will not step back in the face of the cruel policies of the AKP.

In the meantime, the prosecutor arrived at the Forensic Institute to start the procedure after the strong reactions of the people. The bodies of the YPG/YPJ fighters are expected to be taken in the coming hours and sent to Amed where they will be buried.