SÜDEF President Evgil Türker about Diril murder case: “If the Turkish state has information, why is Apro Diril then being released?”

MAHRE/MIDYAT, Turkey – Why has the main suspect in the case of Shmuni and Hurmuz Diril, been arrested and released several times? Syriac newspaper Gazete Sabro talks Evgil Türker, President of the Syriac associations in Turkey, SÜDEF (Süryani Dernekler Federasyonu).

Since the lifeless body of Shmuni Diril was found two months after the couple’s disappearance in January 2020, and where husband Hurmuz Diril has been missing with no sign of life for nearly two years, Apro Diril is the main suspect. Apro Diril is a relative eyewitness and sole co-resident of their home village Mahre. The couple’s family and children have also expressed this several times, says Türker.

“Is there anyone else?”

With regard to the remarkable legal course of events in the investigation, with repeated arrests and releases of main suspect Apro Diril, Türker says; “I am amazed at the turn of events. It raises many questions. Why do they arrest Apro Diril and then release him, several times? So, there are other things revolving around Apro as well.”

“Is there a cover up in the case? Bringing in Apro and then releasing him again, brings to mind the question: is there anyone else? Are they not just distracting us with Apro Diril so that this investigation doesn’t reach the real perpetrators?,” Türker wonders.

The way the authorities handled the case, gives the feeling that the dossier is not taken serious. Türker and SÜDEF make an appeal to state authorities, the Şırnak Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, representatives of justice and judicial law enforcement officers who led the investigation:

“Solve this case as soon as possible and find the real perpetrators. What happened to these people? Who kidnapped them? Where is Hurmuz Diril? These questions must be answered as soon as possible. Otherwise this case will not be taken seriously and will disappear in a drawer – as has happened so often in the legal process in Turkey.”

“Yet another unsolved murder – in the 1990’s there were nearly 60 unsolved murders on Syriacs. None of the killers have been arrested, nor have those cases really been investigated. What happened to the people? Who killed them? To this day no one knows. ”

“If there really is information and if there are reliable findings in the hands of the state, then why is Apro Diril being released? Then a proper investigation should be launched.”

Türker continues: “If Apro Diril hasn’t seen anything, if there are other people involved in this case, the state should turn its attention to those people. I personally do not believe that Apro Diril is the only one involved in this case because it is not that easy to carry two adult people away like that. Apro can not have done it alone, there were others involved. Let them not distract us by detaining Apro Diril over and over and releasing him again.”

Türker, “Bir an önce bu dosyayı sonuçlandırın, failler kimdir, ne oldu bu insanlara, kim bu insanları alıp kaçırdı, Hurmüz Diril nerede, bunları sonuçlandırmaları gerekir. Yoksa Türkiye’deki genel adli olaylar gibi bu da bir ciddiyetsizliğe, faili meçhullere kurban gidecek” dedi. pic.twitter.com/NtCfjQ9p6C

— Gazete Sabro (@gazetesabro) November 10, 2021