Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu: “Whoever is negligent will be held accountable”

Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu visited Üçyol district and offered his condolences to the families after the accident in which 1 police officer was martyred, 19 people lost their lives and 26 people were injured. Minister Soylu, who then went to Derik District Governorate, wished God's mercy to those who lost their lives, urgent healing to the wounded and condolences to the whole nation at the press conference held.

Reminding that 15 people lost their lives in the accident in Gaziantep, he noted that 20 citizens lost their lives in a traffic accident in Derik district of Mardin while we were shaken by the pain of this accident. Speaking about the accident, Soylu said, "Naturally, while our citizens wanted to help those who were injured after the first accident, unfortunately, they were faced with a truck accident that they never expected. Immediately, our wounded were immediately transferred to hospitals. However, they were also transferred to Diyarbakır. We lost some people both on the road and during the accident. I would like to say that as a member of this country, I would like to express my gratitude to the people of Derik for their great patience from the first moment of the accident. Because they have always been soothing and buried the pain they felt from this accident and showed great patience. We witnessed the people of Derik showing great patience and fortitude during the burial of the bodies and in the condolence houses. We would like to express our gratitude once again." Asked about the allegations that a third truck was stopped by the police, Soylu said that it was completely untrue that there was a third truck and that the police punctured the tires of that truck. Reminding that a police officer was martyred, the Minister underlined that the police officer went there to help those people like citizens. Upon HDP Group Deputy Chairperson Meral Danış Beştaş's statement that they were stopped by law enforcement officers on their way to a condolence service, that they were subjected to GBT, and that even family members following a funeral vehicle were subjected to GBT and the vehicle had to wait, Süleyman Soylu said, "Condolences are attended to alleviate people's pain. This is exactly the reason for my gratitude to the people of Derik from the beginning. Are we crazy that we would or should conduct a GBT check on people coming to a funeral? Why would such a thing be done to the funeral owners? There is no such thing. Please, I beg you, you can do anything, but in these painful days of our nation, we should all seek to relieve these common pains together."