On 28 November 2015, Tahir Elçi, a prominent Kurdish human rights lawyer, was shot and killed during a press conference in the city of Diyarbakır in south-east Turkey.
Elçi had been a figure of international renown, and a leading advocate for human rights in the context of Turkey’s decades-long conflict with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). He fought and won landmark cases at the European Court of Human Rights, defending the rights of victims of civilian massacres, displacements and extrajudicial executions. Thousands lined the streets of Diyarbakır at his funeral.
