Narin Güran
Issue #225
As we all recover from the US presidential debate, remember some MAGA hats are now “Made in Türkiye”.
Specifically, in this Adıyaman factory, which produces the iconic hats for $2.5 each. The sale price in the Trump store is $50. Make Adıyaman Girişimci Again!
In this week’s recap:
Missing girl found dead, cover-up suspected
IDF ‘highly likely’ killed US-Turkish national
CHP holds congress to change statues
Domestic and diplomatic wraps
Piranhas give Şalgam city extra bite
Also from us this week:
Ingrid Woudwijk’s report on how METU graduates are protesting government overreach in higher education while considering careers abroad.
Nineteen days after Narin Güran went missing, the body of the 8-year old girl was found Sunday in Diyarbakır. Narin was placed in a sack and hidden in a stream near the village where she disappeared on Aug. 21.
Narin’s uncle (Salim Güran) was arrested on Sept. 2 – before the body was found – and Sunday another 23 people were detained, including Narin’s father, mother, brothers and other family members.
Initial results of the investigation did not provide definitive answers for how and why the girl was murdered.
Similarly, the question of who murdered Narin has yet to be fully answered. Narin’s DNA was found in her uncle Salim Güran’s car, but in his first statement he denied any involvement.
The first responses of Diyarbakır politicians placed the blame elsewhere, with a HÜDA-PAR party official saying: “These are not our culture. They are the culture of Europe, America and Israel.”
AKP Diyarbakır MP Galip Ensarioğlu said he had a 40-year friendship with the family and that he knows almost all of the family members, adding: “Sometimes, there are things that we know but should not say.” Later, he told DW his words were distorted.
On Sunday evening, various protests took place in İstanbul and Diyarbakır, mostly criticizing the state for failing to protect Narin and many other disappeared children.
Narin was buried Monday with a bridal gown put on her coffin, which again sparked outrage.
Later that day, the statement of confessor Nevzat B. was leaked to the press, who said he came across Salim Güran in the village, who handed the body to B. and told him “to make it disappear”, reportedly in exchange for 200,000 TL.
B. then drove to the stream and hid the body. According to the leaked statement, he later went home, prayed and joined the search for Narin. B. was arrested Tuesday on the charge of “participating in the deliberate killing of a child”.
Tuesday evening, Salim Güran’s lawyer withdrew from the case as an attorney, writing in a statement: “As a mother, I cannot continue the defense.”
Currently, 22 people are in custody with 2 people (Salim Güran and Nevzat B.) arrested, said Mehdi Özdemir, a lawyer and deputy head of Diyarbakır Bar Association. Those in custody are giving their statements to the prosecutor today, after which decisions will be taken on their cases.
The Bar Association is tracking the process, and Özdemir followed the search and rescue in the village. He said Narin’s body was found in a stream close to her home that had been previously searched twice.
“The fact that the lifeless body was found only the third time shows us that search and rescue efforts were carried out in a deficient and sometimes incorrect manner,” Özdemir told Turkey recap.
“In Turkey, the group that should be the first suspect in missing child cases or child abuse cases are the family members,” Özdemir continued, adding: “But the investigation activities were carried out according to the statements of the family, considering the family as the victim.”
According to Özdemir, search efforts were conducted according to instructions of the family, who said Narin disappeared around 1750. After the body was found, gendarmerie camera recordings showed Nevzat B.’s car was parked at the same site at 1530 for about an hour on the day Narin disappeared.
As a result, Özdemir concluded there was an “organized effort” and a “manipulation and misdirection of the family members” with the goal of “making the lifeless body disappear”.
He added the many leaks to the media threaten to influence the judicial process, as they may impact the statements made by the suspects. “In essence, it brings this investigation process to an unhealthy point,” he said.
A statement by the Güran family released Thursday said: “We cannot imagine our family members killing our own daughter, but even if there is such a situation, we attribute the slandering of a whole family based on one person to external powers (dış güçler) and their local extensions.”
– Ingrid Woudwijk
Ayşenur Ezgi Eygi: IDF ‘highly likely’ killed US-Turkish national
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