Friends Of Icelandic Man Missing In Syria “Disappointed” By PM’s Response

Friends of Haukur Hilmarsson say they are “deeply disappointed” by Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir’s response to their open letter to her, and demand “an honourable response” in the form of demonstrable action that the Icelandic government is trying to locate Haukur or his remains.

The response from Haukur’s friends was published by Stundin. In it, they do not hold back in their reaction to Katrín’s retort.

“Katrín’s statement brings us, some of Haukur’s friends and others who signed our letter, deep disappointment – we ultimately hoped that she would value the concerns we shared and the demands that we put forward,” their statement says in part. “We believe it is particularly serious that Katrín appears to ignore the reasoned worries of Haukur’s supports that the Foreign Ministry has not initiated a detailed investigation into the origins and veracity of the news that was first published on the case.”

Here they refer to Turkish media, who initially reported that Haukur’s remains would be sent to Iceland, as was brought to light by most outlets who released news about the case. Further, mbl.is cited a Kurdish journalist in Syria who said that Haukur’s remains were in the possession of the Turkish army.

Haukur’s supporters say that the Foreign Ministry’s communications with Haukur’s family “do not indicate that this has been investigated sufficiently. The focal point rather appears to be communiques from the Turkish police that the Icelandic government investigate Haukur’s disappearance primarily through diplomatic channels with the Turkish government – the same government which in all likelihood bears responsibility for the disappearance, jailing, or even death of Haukur.”

As such, they “demand an honourable response” to the situation, taking exception with the fact that the Foreign Ministry has not truly examined the veracity of the original news reports about Haukur; they have merely repeated old news. “And that confirms that the Ministry has not actually ‘used all means out our disposal to locate Haukur’, as it says in Katrín’s statement.”