Relatives of forcibly disappeared call for justice

The children of the disappeared and of those who lost their lives during the massacres reiterated the demand for "justice" in Ankara.

A panel titled 'Loss and Struggle: Seeking Justice' was held in Ankara on the verge of the 'JITEM case' which will be held today.

The panel was held at the Memory Center and by the Cultural Center of the Union of Municipalities. In the first session of the panel, the children of Namik Erdoğan and Adnan Yildirim, who were among the 19 people who were forcibly disappeared and executed between 1993 and 1996 in Ankara, spoke.

Begüm Erdoğan, the daughter of Namik Erdoğan, who was kidnapped from his home in May 1994 and killed four days later said that "words remain inadequate to describe human pain. I've been living for 25 years with a fist in the stomach, a dagger in my chest. Every time I go to open the door, I have this idea that it could be my dad coming."

Drawing attention to the hearing that will be heard today, Erdoğan said: "To whom do we ask to account for my father's right to life and our right to life and to not turn into living dead? I'm proud to be the daughter of such a father. We have learned that there is no justice in this country at the gates of the court where we have been seeking justice for 25 years. I want to see these murders punished. I know you heard me. I will not give up this case, never ever."

Adnan Yıldırım's daughter Leyla Yıldırım said that her relatives were killed within the knowledge and support of the state. "All politicians who supported direct or indirectly that dark period are responsible for these murders."

Zeynep Altınok, daughter of Metin Altınok, who lost his life in the Sivas Massacre, said that the government did not take responsibility for the massacres that took place in the past and the present. "The society is more polarized now than during the times of the suffering."

Arat Dink, son of journalist Hrant Dink, who was murdered in Istanbul on 19 January 2007, said: "I constantly blame the state. I'm trying to leave society aside. Because the solution is in the society. As soon as I hold the society responsible for this, we will have no solution. But society doesn't make a sound. A wrong republic has been produced and as a society we will correct it. We believe that this society will change. We need to refrain from blaming society."