Metin Can, a lawyer and chairman of the Turkish Human Rights Association in Elazig, southeast Turkey, and Dr Hasan Kaya, a medical doctor, have not been seen since leaving Metin Can’s home on the evening of 21 February 1993. On 22 February an unknown person telephoned Metin Can’s home, saying that the two men had been killed. On 23 February a relative of Metin Can received a telephone call purporting to come from the PKK and saying they they were holding him. However, his family believe that the phone call may have been a deliberate attempt to create confusion about his “disappearance”. The Turkish Human Rights Association has been subject to constant official harassment, particularly in Kurdish areas under emergency legislation.
