Turkish Interior Minister's photo with funeral attacker stirs debate

Turkish Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu's picture with one of the attackers of the funeral of the jailed Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) lawmaker Aysel Tuğluk's mother has stirred debate. The minister responded by saying he did not know the person he posed with was among the suspects.

"What is important is not with whom our photos were taken, but whether they were involved in a crime in terms of the law. After our orders, the investigation [into the attack] was deepened and testimonies of 48 people were taken. This person [in the picture], whose testimony was also taken, was detained upon the prosecutor's orders and is still being kept in detention," Soylu said in his statement released on Sept. 16, after the photo of him on social media taken with the attacker at the police headquarters prompted massive criticism.

The funeral of the mother of the jailed HDP lawmaker Aysel Tuğluk, Hatun Tuğluk, was attacked in the capital Ankara by a group of around 20-25 people chanting racist slogans late on Sept. 13, drawing widespread condemnation across the political spectrum.

As a result of the attack, the body was exhumed from the cemetery in Ankara's Gölbaşı and taken to the eastern province of Tunceli on Sept. 14.

According to the Ankara Governor's Office, Soylu arrived at the scene immediately, checking security precautions at the cemetery and telling Tuğluk's family that all necessary measurements would be taken for the burial.

A day after the attack, Minister Soylu said detentions were being carried out regarding the incident "which saddened us all," adding that necessary administrative and judicial investigations had been launched.

Two days after his initial statement on the issue, Soylu said on Sept. 16 that on the...