Murders of Sefter Taş and Fethi Şahin
Sefter Taş and Fethi Şahin were two Turkish soldiers who were killed by burning in Syria in a video released by the Islamic State on December 22, 2016. The video, which threatened Turkey, quickly spread online and caused an uproar in Turkey, where officials temporarily blocked access to several sites and slowed the internet.
Taş, 23, was an infantryman with the Turkish Border Police in Kilis, and Şahin, 26, was an officer in the 26th Gendarmerie Intelligence Service. They were believed to be part of Turkish forces defending the village of Al-Dana when IS attacked on November 29 and captured them. They were taken to al-Bab and then Raqqa.
In the video, an Islamic State judge, Jamal Abdulrahman Alwi, ordered their execution. The two soldiers were shown in uniform, shackled, and forced to crawl before being burned.
Turkish authorities identified the main burner as Talip Akkurt, with Hasan Aydın and Muhittin Büyükyangöz also involved. Alwi, the judge, had later moved to Turkey as a refugee in Gaziantep and was arrested for his role. Aydın had been detained twice before being released, in 2012 and 2015, and Büyükyangöz remains at large. Akkurt was later killed by the Syrian Democratic Forces in 2018.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 03:37 (CET).