Esat Oktay Yıldıran
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Turkey Turkish Land ForcesEsat Oktay Yıldıran | |
|---|---|
| Born | 15 February 1949 |
| Died | 22 October 1988 (aged 39) |
| Allegiance | Turkey |
| Branch | Turkish Land Forces |
| Rank | Major |
| Conflicts | Turkish invasion of Cyprus PKK insurgency |
| Children | 2 |
Esat Oktay Yıldıran (15 February 1949 – 22 October 1988) was a Turkish military officer who was appointed governor of the Diyarbakır Prison after the 1980 Turkish coup d'état.[1] During the PKK insurgency, Yıldıran became known for his extensive torture of PKK aligned Kurds in the Diyarbakır Prison.[2][3] Many inmates either committed suicide or died on hunger strikes in the penitentiary.
After taking part in the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Yıldıran was promoted to major. In 1980, after the military coup which took place the same year, he was appointed to the Diyarbakır Prison by Kenan Evren as internal security officer. He tortured prisoners[4][5][6] with cruel methods. Moreover, he viewed prison as a school in which inmates would be subjected to Turkification.[7] Yıldıran beat, coerced and tortured the male and female prisoners. Under his force, inmates were forced to eat human excrement, doused in sewer water, tortured with electric shocks and such other torture methods.[8] Yıldıran had a German shepherd called "Co" ("Joe"), which was trained to bite the genitals of naked prisoners;[6] all inmates were obligated to salute the dog.[9]
