Turkey's premier condemns image of body being dragged

Turkey's prime minister has condemned a widely-circulated photograph purportedly showing a body being dragged through the streets in southeastern Sirnak province.

Ahmet Davutoglu said the image - apparently taken at night and showing an armored vehicle dragging a body dressed in civilian clothes by the neck - was unacceptable.

The image, taken from a video, was circulated on social media Sunday and appeared on a number of news websites. It is said to show the corpse of a PKK terrorist killed in clashes with the security forces.

Turkish media reported the body belonged to a relative of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) deputy for Sirnak Leyla Birlik. HDP leader Selahattin Demirtas was among those to share the image on Twitter with the message: "Look very carefully at this photo. It was captured in Sirnak the other day. Let no one forget it, because we will not."

In a comment posted on his Facebook page late Sunday, Davutoglu said: “It is not possible for us to accept the images of a terrorist organization member who was neutralized by security forces while attacking policemen with a rocket-propelled grenade in Sirnak."

The Interior Ministry has launched an investigation into the picture.

Sirnak, which lies on the border with Syria and Iraq, has been one of the provinces most affected by the return of the PKK's armed campaign since late July.