Background
İzzet Kezer was born on 6 March 1954. He graduated from the Ankara School of Press and Publishing and began his journalism career at the newspaper Günaydın. When he was killed he was a photojournalist in the Ankara bureau of Sabah. He was married to İmran Kezer and, according to colleagues, newly married. Colleagues remembered him as someone who threw himself into his work in the field.
In early March 1992 he and his colleague Uğur Şevkat had covered the earthquake in Erzincan. Instead of returning to Ankara they travelled by road to Cizre, wanting to cover the Newroz celebrations. When Ankara asked them to cover a trip by Prime Minister Süleyman Demirel, Kezer declined because he wanted to stay in Cizre.
What happened
Kezer was in Cizre, in Şırnak province, to watch the Newroz celebrations of 21 March 1992, during which many people died in the clashes. By 23 March a de facto curfew was in force, though not formally declared. That day about ten journalists, including Şevkat, left the Kadıoğlu Hotel after hearing a child's scream or shouting from a nearby neighbourhood, and came under fire. They took shelter in a house.
When Kezer learned that Şevkat had gone out, he joined another group, reportedly saying he would not leave Uğur alone. When the journalists left the house holding three white flags, heavy fire resumed and Kezer was shot in the head and died; he was 38. Because of the continuing gunfire nobody could reach him for about half an hour, after which an armoured vehicle took him away.
Witnesses and investigation
Journalist Faruk Balıkçı said the shots came from a source connected with the security forces, stressing that nobody else was on the street. Şevkat said he did not see where the shots came from. Journalist Erbil Tuşalp stood in front of a military vehicle with raised hands so that the trapped colleagues could be reached. A German television crew recorded the only footage of the day.
A prosecutor took Balıkçı's statement at the hotel; Şevkat was never summoned. The case remained unsolved on the grounds that no bullet was recovered. Prime Minister Demirel said on 28 March 1992 that the incident would be investigated; yet, according to a Milliyet report of 15 August 1992, he claimed some of the journalists killed were 'militants' rather than real journalists.
Where it stands today
No one has been tried over İzzet Kezer's death, and it has never been established in court who fired the shot. His funeral was held at Kocatepe and was attended by many government officials. The Contemporary Journalists' Association made a documentary, 'İzzet Kezer Gazetecinin Ölümü', about his death. Journalists' organisations commemorate him every March and draw attention to impunity.