DİYARBAKIR - The appeal court overturned the decision to pay compensation to the family, claiming that Kemal Kurkut was an "aggressor protester" and that the conditions for using weapons were met in his murder.

 

In the lawsuit filed by the family of university student Kemal Kurkut, who was killed by the police during the Newroz celebrations in Diyarbakır in 2017, against the Ministry of Interior on the grounds of "defect in service", the decision for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage of 256 thousand TL was overturned. Gaziantep Regional Administrative Court 3rd Administrative Court Division reversed the compensation decision of Diyarbakır 3rd Administrative Court, finding the administration responsible and faulty, to the detriment of the family.

 

Court of appeals ruled that Kurkut was an "aggressor protestor" by stating that "Considering the way the incident took place, the relatives of the plaintiffs obtained a long knife from the butcher located near the are where the Nevruz celebrations to be held in order to carry out an action." Accepting the statements of the police officers that they had warned Kurkut as correct, it was stated that the police rightfully used his gun considering Kurkut was an aggressor protestor and ruled to overturn the the decision to pay compensation to the Kurkut family.

 

The Court of Appeals decided that the administration had no fault in the incident, that the compensation decision given by the Diyarbakır 3rd Administrative Court was unlawful and that the claim for compensation was rejected.