Anfragebeantwortung zur Türkei: Blutrache innerhalb der kurdischen Minderheit wegen Grundstücksstreitigkeiten innerhalb einer (Groß-)Familie; Betroffenheit des ältesten Sohnes einer Familie [a-11581]

31. Mai 2021

Das vorliegende Dokument beruht auf einer zeitlich begrenzten Recherche in öffentlich zugänglichen Dokumenten, die ACCORD derzeit zur Verfügung stehen sowie gegebenenfalls auf Auskünften von Expert·innen und wurde in Übereinstimmung mit den Standards von ACCORD und den Common EU Guidelines for processing Country of Origin Information (COI) erstellt.

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Allgemeine Informationen zu Fehden und Blutfehden

In einer Abhandlung über kurdische Familien in der internationalen Enzyklopädie zu Ehe und Familie aus dem Jahr 2003 schreibt der Autor Mihri Inal Çakir, dass Blutfehden unter Kurden traditionell Angelegenheiten zwischen Stämmen seien. Wenn ein Kurde von einem Mitglied eines anderen Stammes ermordet werde, komme der gesamte Stamm zusammen, um eine extra-legale Bestrafung durchzuführen, was üblicherweise Gegenmaßnahmen provoziere, die zu einem Stammeskrieg eskalieren könnten. Blutfehden seien im Norden Kurdistans (Bezeichnung für den türkischen Teil Kurdistans, Anmerkung ACCORD) weiter verbreitet als in anderen Gebieten Kurdistans. Entsprechende Vorfälle würden angesichts der sinkenden Macht von Stammesführern allerdings abnehmen. (Çakir, 2003, S. 1012)

Ein Artikel in der türkischen Tageszeitung Milliyet vom Oktober 2019 verweist auf einen Bericht des Justizministeriums vom September 2019 zum Thema Blutrache. In dem Bericht seien Zahlen über Fehdeverbrechen enthalten, die von 2010 bis Juli 2019 begangen wurden. 2017 sei das Jahr mit den meisten Fällen gewesen, es sei in 395 Verfahren gegen 348 Personen ermittelt worden. 2018 sei in 267 Verfahren gegen 223 Personen ermittelt worden und 2019 seien in den ersten sieben Monaten des Jahres 91 Verfahren gegen 88 Personen eingeleitet worden. Insgesamt seien zwischen 2010 und Juli 2019 in 464 Verfahren 871 Personen zu lebenslangen Haftstrafen verurteilt worden. Weitere Fälle seien zu dem Zeitpunkt noch vor Gericht anhängig gewesen. Die Fälle würden gehäuft in Diyarbakir, Urfa und Istanbul auftreten. Streitigkeiten, die im Osten der Türkei beginnen, würden häufig im Westen des Landes ausgetragen. (Milliyet, 7. Oktober 2019)

Auch die International Crisis Group (ICG) erwähnt in einem Bericht vom Juni 2018 im Vorfeld von Wahlen, dass es im Südosten der Türkei bittere Auseinandersetzungen, in manchen Fällen Blutfehden, zwischen verschiedenen kurdischen Dörfern oder Stadtteilen gebe. Ein Mitglied eines prominenten Klans in Şanlıurfa habe gegenüber ICG erwähnt, dass die Menschen sagen, sie würden nicht ihre jahrelangen Rivalitäten zur Seite legen, nur um ihre Stimme bei den Wahlen in einem rivalisierenden Dorf abzugeben. Die Ältesten oder Klanführer würden wahrscheinlich nicht wollen, dass Mitglieder ihres Klans zur Stimmabgabe dorthin reisen. (ICG, 13. Juni 2018)

Zu den rechtlichen Grundlagen der Bestrafung von Blutfehde-Morden berichtet die Expertengruppe zur Bekämpfung von Gewalt gegen Frauen und häuslicher Gewalt des Europarats (GREVIO), eine unabhängige Einrichtung zur Überwachung der Umsetzung der Europarats-Konvention zur Verhütung und Bekämpfung von Gewalt gegen Frauen und häuslicher Gewalt (Istanbul-Konvention) in ihrem Evaluierungsbericht zur Türkei vom Oktober 2018: Im Jahr 2005 sei durch die Reformierung des Strafrechts die Möglichkeit weggefallen, mildernde Umstände im Falle von Mord, der durch „Bräuche“ motiviert sei, geltend zu machen. Seither würden für solche Morde sowie für durch eine Blutfehde motivierte Morde erschwerende Umstände gelten. Die Strafe sei erschwerte lebenslange Haft. Auch sei seither nicht nur der Täter zu bestrafen, sondern auch die Mitglieder des „Familienrats“, der die Entscheidung getroffen habe. (CoE – GREVIO, 15. Oktober 2018, S. 84; vgl. auch Regierung der Republik Türkei, 4. Juli 2017, S. 49)

Fälle von Fehden/Blutfehden, unter anderem im Zusammenhang mit Streit um Land

Bei der Recherche wurden die folgenden exemplarischen Fälle von Fehden/Blutfehden gefunden, darunter auch langanhaltende Fehden im Zusammenhang mit Grundstücksstreitigkeiten. Dies bedeutet nicht notwendigerweise, dass nicht von weiteren Fällen berichtet wurde.

Die türkische Publikation Duvar berichtet im Mai 2021 von einem Konflikt zwischen zwei benachbarten Familien aufgrund eines Landstreits in Taşlı, Siverek, in der im Südosten der Türkei gelegenen Provinz Şanlıurfa. Bei dem Vorfall seien drei Personen getötet und neun Personen verletzt worden. (Duvar, 22. Mai 2021)

In Çermik (Diyarbakır) wurde ein Mann im Rahmen einer Blutrache getötet, beide Familien seien miteinander verwandt. (Cermik Gazetesi, 17. Mai 2021)

Im März 2021 wird von einem Fall in der Provinz Adana berichtet, in dem ein Mörder nach Verbüßen seiner Haftstrafe nach 19 Jahren kurz nach der Freilassung vom Sohn des damaligen Mordopfers getötet worden sei. (Haber Turk, 22. März 2021)

Die kurdisch-irakische Nachrichtenseite Rudaw berichtet von einer Familienfehde in der mehrheitlich kurdisch bewohnten Provinz Adiyaman im Süden der Türkei, bei der sieben Personen getötet und drei verletzt worden seien. Der Grund für den Vorfall und den Konflikt seien unklar. Familienfehden seien häufig, vor allem in den konservativeren ländlichen Landesteilen, so der Artikel. (Rudaw, 5. Februar 2021)

Im Jänner 2020 wurde von einem Fall berichtet, der sich im August 2019 in Siirt in der Provinz Batman ereignet hat. Das Kind einer Familie sei ermordet worden, die betroffenen Familien hätten sich auf ein „Blutgeld“ geeinigt, trotzdem sei der Bruder des Mörders von den minderjährigen Angehörigen des Opfers getötet worden, der Vater habe sie dazu angestiftet. (T24, 9. Jänner 2020)

Die libanesische Zeitung Daily Star berichtet im Jahr 2013 von einer Schießerei in der von Kurden bewohnten ländlichen Provinz Mus. Bei dem Streit um Land zwischen zwei Familien seien sieben Personen getötet worden. Die beiden Familien seien seit Jahren im Streit gelegen. (Daily Star, 17. Juli 2013)

Mehrere Quellen berichten über einen Vorfall im Mai 2009, bei dem mindestens 44 Menschen im Rahmen einer Blutfehde getötet worden seien (Reuters, 5. Mai 2009; RFE/RL, 5. Mai 2009; Eurasianet, 5. Mai 2009). Reuters erwähnt in diesem Zusammenhang, dass es aufgrund von Blutfehden, die über Generationen wegen Landstreitigkeiten, Weiderechten oder Angelegenheiten der Familienehre anhielten, jährlich Dutzende Opfer in ländlichen Regionen der Türkei gebe. Das Problem sei im kurdischen Südosten aufgrund ungleicher Landverteilung, Machtkämpfen in einem feudalen Klansystem und der Entscheidung der Regierung, bewaffnete Dorfmilizen gegen Aufständische einzusetzen, akuter (Reuters, 5. Mai 2009). Obwohl Blutfehden, oft wegen Land, Heiratsangelegenheiten und Schulden, nichts Neues seien, sei das Ausmaß des Massakers in einem kleinen Dorf noch nie dagewesen und habe das Land geschockt (RFE/RL, 5. Mai 2009).

Es konnten keine Informationen zu einer besonderen Betroffenheit des ältesten Sohnes einer Familie gefunden werden.

Quellen: (Zugriff auf alle Quellen am 31. Mai 2021)

·      Çakir, Mihri Inal: Kurdish Families. In: International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family (Hg.: James J. Ponzetti), Second Edition, Volume 3, 2003
https://epdf.pub/international-encyclopedia-of-marriage-and-family19972a777b0985f58aeab8d01508d90f6805.html

·      Cermik Gazetesi: Bu son olsun, 17. Mai 2021
http://www.cermikgazetesi.com/bu-son-olsun/

·      CoE - GREVIO – Council of Europe - Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence: Baseline Evaluation Report Turkey [GREVIO/Inf(2018)6], 15. Oktober 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1447448/1226_1540285431_grevio-report-on-turkey.pdf

·      Daily Star: Seven dead in Turkey land dispute: local official, 17. Juli 2013
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2013/Jul-17/224015-seven-dead-in-turkey-land-dispute-local-official.ashx

·      Duvar: Şanlıurfa'da 'arazi' kavgası: 3 ölü, 9 yaralı, 22. Mai 2021
https://www.gazeteduvar.com.tr/sanliurfada-arazi-kavgasi-3-olu-9-yarali-haber-1523009

·      Eurasianet: Turkey: Massacre Puts Government on Defensive on Support for Paramilitaries (Autor: Nicolas Birch), 5. Mai 2009
https://eurasianet.org/turkey-massacre-puts-government-on-defensive-on-support-for-paramilitaries

·      Haber Turk: 19 yıl sonra kan davası!, 22. März 2021
https://www.haberturk.com/adana-da-dehset-son-dakika-19-yil-sonra-kan-davasi-3013817

·      ICG – International Crisis Group: Turkey’s Election Reinvigorates Debate over Kurdish Demands, 13. Juni 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1435555/5228_1529331001_b088-turkey-s-election-reinvigorates-debate-1.pdf

·      Milliyet: Türkiye’nin kan davası raporu: Diyarbakır, İstanbul Şanlıurfa ilk üçte, 7. Oktober 2019
https://www.milliyet.com.tr/gundem/turkiyenin-kan-davasi-raporu-diyarbakir-istanbul-sanliurfa-ilk-ucte-6048197

·      Regierung der Republik Türkei: Report submitted by Turkey pursuant to Article 68, paragraph 1 of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Baseline Report) (veröffentlicht von CoE - GREVIO – Council of Europe - Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) [GREVIO/Inf(2017)5], 4. Juli 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1456382/1226_1547561705_grevio-inf-2017-5-eng-docx.pdf

·      Reuters: Blood feuds, gun violence plague Turkey’s southeast, 5. Mai 2009
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-attack-feuds-analysis-sb-idUSTRE5443G520090505

·      RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Turkey Massacre Raises Questions About Blood Feuds, Arming Civilians, 5. Mai 2009
https://www.rferl.org/a/Turkey_Massacre_Raises_Questions_About_Blood_Feuds_Arming_Civilians_/1621967.html

·      Rudaw: Family feud in southern Turkey kills 7, injures 3: state media, 5. Februar 2021
https://www.rudaw.net/english/middleeast/turkey/050220211

·      T24: Kan davası (Autor: Tayfun Atay), 9. Jänner 2020
https://t24.com.tr/yazarlar/tayfun-atay/kan-davasi,25141


 

Anhang: Quellenbeschreibungen und Informationen aus ausgewählten Quellen

·      Çakir, Mihri Inal: Kurdish Families. In: International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family (Hg.: James J. Ponzetti), Second Edition, Volume 3, 2003
https://epdf.pub/international-encyclopedia-of-marriage-and-family19972a777b0985f58aeab8d01508d90f6805.html

„Traditionally, blood feuds are intertribal affairs. When a Kurd is murdered by someone from another tribe, not only the lineage of the dead man, but the whole tribe comes together for an extra-juridical form of punishment, usually provoking countermeasures that lead to escalated tribal warfare. Settlement between the tribes can be a lengthy process and is pursued until an agreement is reached about the payment of blood money, bezh, to the relatives of the victim. Blood feuds are more widespread in Northern Kurdistan than in other parts of Kurdistan, and incidents of it are decreasing as the power of tribal leaders decreases.” (Çakir, 2003, S. 1012)

·      CoE - GREVIO – Council of Europe - Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence: Baseline Evaluation Report Turkey [GREVIO/Inf(2018)6], 15. Oktober 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1447448/1226_1540285431_grevio-report-on-turkey.pdf

253. Article 29 of the TCC on unjust provocation establishes as a general mitigating circumstance the fact that the offence was committed ‘in a state of anger or severe distress caused by an unjust act’. An unjust provocation reduces by one to three quarters the penalty and entails considerable sentence reductions even for the most severe form of punishment, namely life imprisonment. However, in 2005, the reform of the TCC removed the possibility of reducing sentences under this motive in cases of murder motivated by ‘custom’. Since then, ‘custom (töre) killings’, as well as killings motivated by a blood feud, qualify as aggravated forms of murder and the prescribed sentence is aggravated life imprisonment. Further, amendments were made to ensure that not only the perpetrator of the crime but also members of the ‘family council’ that took a decision to perform such a killing are charged with the crime.“ (CoE – GREVIO, 15. Oktober 2018, S. 84)

·      ICG – International Crisis Group: Turkey’s Election Reinvigorates Debate over Kurdish Demands, 13. Juni 2018
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1435555/5228_1529331001_b088-turkey-s-election-reinvigorates-debate-1.pdf

„In the south east, bitter disputes – in some cases, blood feuds – pit different Kurdish villages and urban neighbourhoods against one another. A member of a prominent Kurdish clan in Şanlıurfa told Crisis Group: ‚What people are saying is that they will not leave their years-long rivalry aside just to cast their vote in the rival village. The elders or clan leaders will likely not want their clan members to travel there‘.“ (ICG, 13. Juni 2018, S. 8)

·      Regierung der Republik Türkei: Report submitted by Turkey pursuant to Article 68, paragraph 1 of the Council of Europe Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence (Baseline Report) (veröffentlicht von CoE - GREVIO – Council of Europe - Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence) [GREVIO/Inf(2017)5], 4. Juli 2017
https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/1456382/1226_1547561705_grevio-inf-2017-5-eng-docx.pdf

There is a basic punishment for each crime in the Turkish Criminal Code. The legislator imposes aggravating circumstances for some crimes as well as mitigating circumstances for some crimes. Aggravating/mitigating circumstances are defined privately within each crime and it is stated in Article under which circumstances the punishment shall be mitigated or aggravated. In addition, excusatory and mitigating causes are regulated in Articles 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 in the chapter of general provisions of the Turkish Criminal Code. Also, matters of discretionary mitigation are regulated to individualize the crime in Article 62. Unjust provocation is regulated in Article 29 of the Turkish Penal Code. To abate the punishment because of unjust provocation, there must be factors such as an act causing provocation, the given act including unjust element, being in anger by the unjust act and committing the crime with effect of anger or asperity. For unjust provocation abatement, it is not necessary to commit an unjust act towards the perpetrator. If a father, whose child has been subject to an unjust act, commits a crime under the influence of this act, he may benefit from unjust provocation abatement. The act subject to provocation must be unjust and unlawful. These crimes are not required to be crimes defined under the Turkish Criminal Code or any other law. There must be a specific rate between the crime committed and provocative act. If the crime committed is clearly heavier than provocative act, he cannot benefit from the abatement. Unjust provocation abatement is out of question for custom killing and blood feud murder; on the contrary custom killing (Article 82/1-k) and blood feud (Article 82/1-j) are regulated as qualified form and the perpetrator shall be sentenced to heavy life imprisonment. It is against Article of unjust provocation included in the Law to recognize mitigating causes such as the factors regarding custom, culture, religion, tradition or so-called honor as reasons for the crime. It is not possible to implement customs and traditions in criminal proceedings because of the principle of legality in the Turkish Criminal Code.“ (Regierung der Republik Türkei, 4. Juli 2017, S. 49)

·      Reuters: Blood feuds, gun violence plague Turkey’s southeast, 5. Mai 2009
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-turkey-attack-feuds-analysis-sb-idUSTRE5443G520090505

Celebi’s words, uttered after an armed attack on a village wedding robbed her of four children, three daughters-in-law and one grandchild, amply illustrated the depth and bitterness of bloodfeuds, clan rivalries and vendettas in largely Kurdish southeastern Turkey; an unending cycle of violence and revenge. […] The mass killing was, according to local residents, the culmination of a long family feud. […] While the scale of Monday’s killing has shocked this Muslim country of 70 million, experts say dozens are killed in rural Turkey every year in ‘blood for blood’ vendettas passed from generations over land disputes, grazing rights or matters of family honor.

Experts say the problem, which is more acute in the Kurdish southeast, is aggravated by unequal land distribution, power struggles in a feudal-style clan system and a decision by the government to set up well-armed village militias against Kurdish rebels. […] ‘This is a combination of tribalism, love for guns and tradition gone awfully wrong,’ Ergil told Reuters. Local residents said the feud within the extended Celebi family in Bilge dated back to a land conflict in the mid-1990s. […] There are some 60,000 state-sponsored village guards throughout Turkey’s southeast, who fight alongside state security forces against Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) rebels. Critics say the region is awash with guns. Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based analyst, said village guards have used their weapons many times to settle blood feuds. Human rights groups have long called on the government to disband the village guards, whom they say are an unaccountable force; but disbanding them is not that easy. ‘There are entire villages in the southeast where being a village guard is the only way of subsistence. The economy of entire villages is dependent on these forces so it’s a serious social-economic problem as well,’ Jenkins said.“ (Reuters, 5. Mai 2009)

·      RFE/RL – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: Turkey Massacre Raises Questions About Blood Feuds, Arming Civilians, 5. Mai 2009
https://www.rferl.org/a/Turkey_Massacre_Raises_Questions_About_Blood_Feuds_Arming_Civilians_/1621967.html

Turkey says there are no signs that the killing of at least 44 people at a wedding ceremony in southeastern Turkey was a terrorist attack. Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay says the attack on May 4 appears to be the result of a blood feud between two families and not the work of Kurdish separatists. Now, authorities have arrested eight suspects in the case. And the arrests seem to confirm that the massacre is the culmination of long-standing animosities between two families in the village where the massacre occurred. ‚It seems like a feud between two families. One family wanted this girl to marry this guy [from their side] and the girl's family did not permit that and tried to marry her off to another family and the first family staged this attack,’ says Nejat Basar, news editor of Turkey's ‘Hurriyet Daily News.’ In the attack in the village of Bilge, in the province of Mardin near the Syrian border, masked gunmen opened fire on some 200 guests attending a local wedding ceremony. Witnesses say the shooting lasted 15 minutes before the attackers fled. By the latest count, 44 of the guests are dead, including six children and 16 women. The bride and groom were both reportedly killed. The scale of the massacre has shocked Turkey, a country where rivalries between families in remote rural areas are not unknown. But squabbles over property or marriage rarely turn this violent. Basar says that while this attack ‘was the latest in a history of antagonism and clashes between these two families,’ he says that ‘this is something totally new in Turkey, blood feuds are not, but such a massacre on a large scale in a small village is totally unprecedented.’ Authorities say all involved appear to be members of the same village and some of the suspects taken into custody have the same surnames as the victims.

[…] But if the affair seems purely local, the fact that all the men in the village of Bilge are also members of a paramilitary force gives the matter greater significance than simply a particularly gruesome crime. Turkey's NTV television quoted Mardin Deputy Governor Ahmet Ferhat Ozen as saying that the motive could have been an old feud between rival groups of the pro-government militia, the Village Guards. […] The Village Guards are a force of some 60,000 local Kurds armed by Ankara to protect villages in southeastern Turkey against attacks by the separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

But if the guards were established in 1985 to be a stabilizing force, some of its members are occasionally in the news for activities that have the opposite effect. The militia's mandate to carry arms, inform on suspected separatist activities, patrol the rugged mountainous region, and fight separatists alongside Turkish troops has made them a force in their own right that is able to advance members' own interests. Village Guards members in the past have been accused of using their status to carry out attacks on rival clans, seize land, and engage in smuggling. ‘I have heard before of incidents where Village Guards have moved with their families into villages that were evacuated in the 1990s and now the original villagers are returning to their villages they find the Village Guards already are living there,’ Basar says. ‘And southeast Anatolia is a major smuggling route and it is no surprise that these Village Guards are involved in it because many people in the region are involved in it anyway,’ he adds. All this makes the Village Guards controversial even as Ankara continues to depend upon the militia to stabilize the volatile southeast.

[…] Blood feuds are not uncommon in the region and often center on questions of land, marriage, and unpaid debts. Paramilitary abuse of power and involvement in smuggling are also allegedly not uncommon. In remote rural areas, all of these questions can easily merge together. And, with arms abundant, those are all the ingredients one needs to get stunning acts of private revenge.” (RFE/RL, 5. Mai 2009)