Background
Tahir Elçi was president of the Diyarbakır Bar Association and a human-rights lawyer with many years of work behind him. He took part in cases over rights violations linked to the Kurdish issue and was known as an advocate of peace and an end to the fighting.
By the second half of 2015 the peace process between Turkish security forces and the PKK had collapsed, and clashes and curfews were being seen in several districts of the south-east. During this period Elçi was calling for an end to the violence.
What happened
On 28 November 2015 Elçi was shot in the head and killed in front of the historic Four-Legged Minaret in Diyarbakır's Sur district while giving a press statement. Two police officers were also killed in the armed clash that broke out at the same time.
The aim of the statement was to draw attention to damage to historic structures in Sur and to call for the fighting to stop. The killing drew wide reaction inside Turkey and abroad.
Investigation and trial
After a long investigation, three police officers were prosecuted on a charge of causing death through conscious negligence. The family and their lawyers said it had not been conclusively determined whose bullet struck Elçi, and pointed to gaps in the camera footage. Independent expert reports named the three officers as the most likely suspects, but the court concluded that strong suspicion alone was not enough for a conviction.
On 12 June 2024 the Diyarbakır 10th High Criminal Court acquitted the three officers for insufficient evidence. The family and the bar association appealed, and an appeals court later upheld the acquittal. The lawyers said they would apply to the Constitutional Court. A fugitive defendant is being tried separately in connection with the killing of the two police officers.
Following the ruling, international human-rights organisations issued statements drawing attention to the problem of impunity in Turkey, while the family said it would keep using legal avenues to have the killing clarified.
Legacy
Tahir Elçi is commemorated every year on 28 November in Diyarbakır and other cities. His death is often recalled in discussions about the safety of lawyers and the protection of human-rights defenders, and his family and the bar association continue to call for a full clarification.