Turkish Gendarmerie tortures young man to death at border

Turkish border guards tortured and killed a young man in Heseke countryside. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said the young man had been tortured to death and that his vital organs had been stolen.

According to SOHR, a young man who was attempting to cross the Syrian-Turkish border through smuggling routes to seek safe haven in the area of Serekaniye, one of the occupied territories in what the Turkish state calls the “Peace Spring” area, was tortured to death during his arrest by the Turkish border guards, called “Jandarma” (Gendarmerie).

The statement said the victim’s body was dumped on Syrian territory after his vital organs were stolen. The SOHR reported that he was killed by Turkish border guards, adding that it was not known whether it was Turkish border guards, smugglers or others who stole the victim’s organs. The human rights organization noted that the victim was from the town of Al-Shuhayl in the eastern countryside of Deir Ezzor.

According to the report, the number of civilians killed by Turkish border guards (jandarma) in different areas near the Syrian-Turkish border has risen to 18 since the beginning of 2023. SOHR added that 28 civilians, including a child and three women, were wounded by Turkish gendarmerie gunfire during the same period. According to the SOHR, 10 civilians were killed in Hasakah and 1 in Raqqa this year. Four men were killed in areas controlled by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and opposition groups in the Idlib countryside, and two in Aleppo. One child was killed by the gendarmerie in SDF-held territory.