The body of HPG guerrilla Mercan Erkol (Berîtan Tolhildan), who was martyred in Amed's Kulp district on October 16, 2017, has not been delivered to her family for 3 years. ‘’Cooperation, Solidarity, Unity and Culture Association with Families Who Lost Their Relatives in the Cradle of Civilizations’’ (MEBYA DER) made a statement at the Yeniköy Asri Cemetery in the Bağlar district of Amed, demanding that the body of HPG guerrilla Mercan Erkol (Berîtan Tolhildan) be handed over to her family in the Cradle of Civilizations.

MEBYA-DER co-chair Şeyhmus Karadağ said, "Even if it is a single piece, families want to take their bodies." Karadağ revealed that a family, who learned about the death of their child on television, constantly came to Amed to take the body, but the body was not given. Noting that the family applied to the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor's Office after the news of the death, Karadağ further remarked that the father, Hesin Erkol, gave a blood sample for DNA testing at the Dicle University Medical Faculty Hospital with the approval of the Provincial Gendarmerie Command.

A SINGLE GRAVE FOR 3 BODIES

Karadağ said that The family was told to take their corpses by the Diyarbakır Gendarmerie Command in July 2019. When the father Erkol went to  Yeniköy Cemetery accompanied by a soldier, where the body was buried he realized there were 3 bodies in the same grave. Karadağ unveiled that the body was not given with the instructions of the prosecutor's office due to the fact that three bodies were found in the same grave, adding that despite the fact that the prosecutor's office informed the family that the bodies would be separated and delivered to the family, the body was still not delivered, although more than a year has passed.

VALUES ARE IGNORED

Emphasizing that the Erkol family resided in Van and came to Amed many times to retrieve their bodies but they were never handed over, Karadağ said, "The process of taking a body has turned into a systematic torture for the family. Human vaules have been eroded since a family has been waiting for so long to receive the mortal remain of their daughter. The most natural human right of the family is suspended by the intolerance and indifference of a bureaucracy at a time when DNA technology has progressed, is evident within hours."

Karadağ underlined that the bodies should be delivered to families at least as a single piece.