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  • Father of the 24-year-old youth killed by Turkish army seen during the funeral on Sunday.Save Kobane
  • Hacı Lokman BirlikSave Kobane
  • Hundreds of local residents turned up for the funeral of the Kurdish youth.null

An image purportedly showing a Turkish army truck dragging the body of a Kurdish man through the streets of Sirnak, a Turkish town in south-eastern Turkey, has gone viral. The photo, widely being circulated online, has caused an outrage in the Turkish town, where hundreds participated in the funeral of the dead man on Sunday.

The 24-year Kurdish youth identified as HacI Lokman Birlik, the brother-in-law of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Sirnak deputy Leyla Birlik, was shot dead by the Turkish special forces on Friday night (2 October), a report said.

HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtas, a Kurdish politician who is a co-leader of the left-wing pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) who uploaded the image on his social media accounts wrote: "Take a good look at this picture. It was taken yesterday in Sirnak. Do not forget this, because we will not forget".

Turkey, which initially had denied the incident, later in a statement claimed that the body of the youth was dragged on the streets as it was suspected that he was wearing a suicide vest, according to a report in Sabah.

Save Kobane, a pro-Kurdish Facebook group shared the image on its wall with the caption: "This is not ISIS, not Saudi Arabia nor Iran. This is the Turkish military, a NATO member and US ally, dragging the body of a Kurdish youth behind an armoured vehicle in Şirnak, northern Kurdistan. This is not the nineties, this is yesterday. He was a civilian, his name was Hacı Lokman Birlik, and he was 24 years old. How can the world still remain silent? Don't forget, because we won't forget.
‪#‎TurkishTerrorState‬ ‪#‎Turkey‬ ‪#‎KurdsUnderTurkishAttack‬."

For the past several weeks, a heavy fighting has been on between Turkish forces and the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Sirnak province. The Turkish forces have been accused of heinous crimes against the locals in the name of suppressing the PKK -- which is listed as a terror group by Turkey. 

A video claimed to have been shot by the Turkish soldiers also has been shared online. [Watch Video]

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