Turkish colonel detained in probe over missing Kurds

ANKARA, Turkey – Police arrested a senior military officer Monday (March 23rd) as part of an investigation of alleged killings of Kurds by Turkish security forces in the 1990s. They detained Colonel Cemal Temizoz in the central city of Kayseri, where he commands the local paramilitary gendarmerie.

In the 1990s, Temizoz was based in the south-eastern town of Silopi, where earlier this month investigators found a skull, some burnt clothes and bones in an alleged mass grave.

The human remains allegedly belong to several Kurds who went missing in the area during an insurgency led by the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party in the 1990s.

In other news Monday, Interior Minister Besir Atalay said authorities are stepping up security measures across the country ahead of Sunday’s local elections. Special emphasis will go to securing buildings used for voting.

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