The disturbing images have garnered coverage in top international news outlets. And the Turkish government's response has been nearly as disquieting as the images themselves.
Many independent media suggesting that dragging Kurdish people through the street is an ordinary way of making sure there are no bombs on the bodies .
According to Todays Zaman the dead body was that of Hacı Lokman Birlik, the brother-in-law of pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) Şırnak deputy Leyla Birlik.
Hacı Lokman Birlik was killed on Friday in a clash between members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and Turkish security forces in Şırnak.
Sharing a photo of the incident on his Twitter account, HDP Co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş wrote on Sunday: “Look at this photo closely. It was taken the day before yesterday in Şırnak. Nobody should forget this and we will never forget it.”
That rationale is absurd even on its own terms: If there was a bomb on the body, dragging it through the streets would presumably be the last thing a government would want to do, unless the goal was to injure the people in the streets or the officers in the vehicle.
The images reignite doubts about the government's fight against Kurds.
Turkey’s prime minister has condemned dissemination of a video purporting to show a dead Kurdish militant dragged through the streets tied by the neck to an armoured police vehicle, images that could further inflame tension in the country’s south-east.