Court arrests suspect in murder of Turkish Erasmus student in Poland

The suspect sought for the murder of a Turkish university student in Poland was arrested by a Polish court Tuesday.

Muhammet Emektar, who is accused of killing 21-year-old Turkish student Furkan Kocaman, was arrested in a secret trial, the Turkish embassy in Warsaw told the Anadolu Agency.

No official information has yet been shared by Polish authorities regarding the cause of the murder while unconfirmed reports claimed that the 29-year-old suspect was a PKK terrorist group sympathizer, showing several statements made by the victim's family as proof.

Meanwhile, several reports found that a pro-PKK Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) affiliated organization, the Ankara-based Human Rights Association, had previously declared that Emektar had gone missing, claiming "the government killed him." The association shared a post on its Twitter account on June 19, 2018 asking Emektar's whereabouts.

The HDP linked association, which claimed Emektar had been missing since April 30, 2018, held several press conferences in which they continued to argue that the suspect was killed off by the Turkish government. the NGO has made no official statement on its social media accounts regarding the murder.

The Turkish government has long accused the HDP of having close ties to the PKK. The HDP is known for its support of autonomy in regions where large Kurdish populations live. Also, some of its members have been charged or accused of having links to the terrorist organization. Its former co-leader, Selahattin Demirtaş, was arrested in November 2016 over terrorist propaganda.

Formed in 1978, the PKK terror group has been fighting the Turkish government for an independent state. Its terror campaign has caused the deaths of more than 40,000 people including children, women and elderly people. The PKK is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the U.S. and the European Union.

Kocaman, a student from the International Relations Department of Konya Selçuk University, was killed on March 9 after his throat was slashed in a knife attack at a shopping mall in Wroclaw where he was studying as part of an Erasmus student exchange program.

The body of Kocaman will be flown to Turkey, officials from the Turkish embassy said. His funeral will be held in central Konya province, his hometown, they added.