Families of Afrin martyrs condemn Turkish government for desecration of graves

The families of the martyrs reacted to the Turkish state lying about a possible 'mass grave' in Afrin and said they could not take the bodies of their children due to Ankara invasion attack.

In the past few days, the remains of martyrs buried in the cemetery near Avrin Hospital in Afrin were removed by the Turkish state. False reports were fabricated by pro-Turkish media saying that that was in fact a mass grave where civilians killed by the YPG-YPJ had been thrown.

The families of the YPG-YPJ martyrs buried in the cemetery near the Avrin hospital reacted to the claims and to the desecration of graves carried out by the Turkish state. In the special news on Medya Haber, the families explained how both fighters and civilian martyrs had to be buried in the cemetery.

Avdoyê Tevfîk said that the body of his father, martyr Tevfik, who was murdered by the Turkish state and its mercenaries, is among those unearthed. Tevfîk said that his father was treated in Avrin Hospital after he was injured but lost his life there and was buried in the cemetery near the hospital. "My father was wounded in the Alemdar attack on 13 February 2018. He was staying in Avrin Hospital. He fell as a martyr on 14 March. There were 3 martyrs’ plots in Afrin. We were not able to bury our martyrs in other plots. Therefore, we buried them right next to Avrin Hospital. We buried 32 martyrs together with my father on the same day."

The mother of martyr Amara, who lost her life in the attacks by the Turkish state, said that the city was bombed by 72 planes after the invasion attacks started. She said that Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan and his mercenaries targeted everyone living in Afrin and described the events as follows: "All those who lost their lives in the Mahmude massacre and other massacres were brought together. There were civilians among them. There was no cemetery left in the city to bury our martyrs. We had to bury the martyr fighters and civilians behind Avrin Hospital. These people fell as martyrs to protect their people and their lands.”

The woman said: “The whole world watched in silence while Kurds were murdered by the Turkish state. Erdoğan and his mercenaries killed Kurdish youths, women, children and the elderly. Now they are attacking our martyrs. We do not accept this brutality. The Kurdish people also have rights. The states of the world should hold Erdogan accountable for his brutality. We will claim our martyrs and our leader until the end. Erdoğan is no different from ISIS. As long as we live, we will follow in the footsteps of our martyrs and oppose Erdoğan."