ISTANBUL, Turkey (A.W.)—Three weeks before his service in the Turkish military ended, private Sevag Sahin Balikci was shot and killed in his army unit stationed in Gumusorgu, near the Kozluk district of Batman province in southeastern Turkey. The deadly incident happened on April 24, on the 96th anniversary of the Armenian genocide.

The news about the death of the 25-year-old Istanbul-Armenian soldier was first reported by the semi-official Anadolu News Agency, which stated that the private was shot after a colleague’s gun went off while they were kidding with each other. The private’s friend—whose name has not been made public yet—was arrested and the unit commanders tried to reach the family of the victim to inform them about their son’s death, but the family had changed their address a few weeks earlier, and they had already heard the bad news from websites that broke the news within a couple of hours. The next day, another statement issued by the General Command of the Turkish Armed Forces contradicted the initial story. It read that private Sevag was shot by a stray bullet from his colleague’s gun, while they were fixing the fences around their station.

“I don’t believe that my son died by an accident on April 24,” said Sevag’s mother Ani Balikci. “The statement about the accident doesn’t mean anything to me, because preventing these accidents is the duty of those who are in charge there. I need an explanation from the Turkish Armed Forces,” she added.

Balikci family lawyer Cem Halavurt told reporters that even if it becomes clear that it was an accident and not a homicide, someone must be held responsible for this. “We are going to sue those who are in charge in the administration,” he said.

According to Radikal daily, the family of Sevag Sahin Balikci has requested a full investigation of his death and will get lawyers to inspect an autopsy report. However, later the same day of the incident, the family became more cautious in their statements. Murat Shant Ozdemir, the brother-in-law of Sevag, said that they believe that what happened was an accident. Ozdemir said that it is a very unfortunate coincidence that this happened on April 24. “We don’t want to link this with anything and we don’t want it to be manipulated by others,” said Ozdemir, the Istanbul-based newspaper reported.

Ani Balikci’s comments the next day were also cautious. “We don’t know if it is an accident or not yet. We are going to meet the commanders with our lawyer and they are going to deliver a full report. We are going to visit his army unit station and meet the eyewitnesses. Some people are making false statements on the internet,” she said. “The other soldier who shot my son was his best friend. I sent Easter cookies to the whole unit a day before that. This is not related with April 24 at all. I have no fear from anybody. I already lost my child, why should I be afraid. The commander and the major were at our home and they were as sad as we are,” she said.

The military honored the memory of the private in Diyarbekir on April 25, before the funeral in Surp Vartanants church of Ferikoy neighborhood in Istanbul. At the church, Bishop Tatul Anoushian said, “He died while conducting a sacred service. He was very close to his community, society, and country. On behalf of the Patriarchate, the Spiritual Assembly and our community, I thank chief negotiator Egemen Bagis who represented our government, the Chief of Staff, his friends in arms and the non-governmental organizations for their support,” he said, without mentioning anything about the obligations and the responsibilities of the state in Sevag’s death.

‘I Believe they were talking about April 24’

Melani Kumruyan, Sevag’s fiancée had a different story to tell. Turkish-Armenian weekly Agos reported that Sevag told Kumruyan that he had problems in his unit. According to Kumruyan, a couple of weeks ago a soldier in his unit lost some money. One of his commanders held Sevag responsible and beat him mercilessly. Sevag filed an official complain against the commander for the incident. He later withdrew the complaint under pressure.

“The investigation is ongoing. I want to know who did this and how as soon as possible. I don’t believe that this happened while they were kidding with one another,” said Kumruyan. “I believe that he was murdered. Some fascists in his unit were pressuring him. I think that they were taking about April 24 the Armenian genocide commemoration day and one of them shot him,” she claimed.

Fiancée: "I think that they were taking about April 24 the Armenian genocide commemoration day and one of them shot him."Kumruyan doesn’t stand alone in her speculation. The fact that Balikci’s death coincided with the Armenian genocide commemoration date makes the official version of his death highly suspicious. Several women attending the funeral at the church told the Armenian Weekly that they do not believe what is being said about Sevag’s death by the Army Command, but they cannot do anything about it. No matter what the outcome of the investigation is, the Turkish Armed Forces will remain under huge suspicion, they said.

The Army Command has lacked the will to forcefully address the problem. It tried to refute those claims by an official statement denying Kumruyan’s remarks. However, this was neither the first, nor the last such case in the Turkish Armed Forces. A day after Sevag’s death, another soldier, Ugur Pamuk from Diyarbekir, who was serving in Igdir, was also found dead. His commanders claimed that he committed suicide, the Turkish daily Taraf reported. With this incident, the number of the non-combat army deaths that happened under suspicious circumstances over the past 5 years in Turkey reached 414.

The army is one of the most closed institutions in Turkey and it is a pillar of the Turkish ruling establishment. In the past, it has largely escaped general public criticism about its destructive role in Turkish politics and abuse of power.