Relatives of people who disappeared after being taken into custody during the 1990s and human rights activists continued their protests in  Amed, Batman, Cizre and Yüksekova yesterday. At the actions people also protested against the AKP government’s ‘Internal Security Package’.

AMED

In Amed, Human Rights Association (IHD) members, executives of the Association of Relatives of the Missing in Mesopotamia (MEYA-DER), Saturday Mothers, and relatives of the missing held their 316th weekly sit-down protest in front of the Right to Life memorial in the Koşuyolu Park.

Lawyer Abdullah Zeytun spoke at the protest, saying despite it being known how the missing had disappeared the authorities were doing nothing about it. Zeytun emphasised that it was necessary to confront the past and called for state archives to be opened up.

Zeytun also criticised the 'Internal Security Package’, saying it would lead to more disappearances, and called on the government to withdraw the draft law immediately.

BATMAN

In Batman, members of the IHD Batman branch and relatives of the missing held their 316th weekly protest in the Atatürk Park, demanding justice for the missing. The protest was supported by the Peace Mothers, KURDİ-DER and MEYA-DER representatives. IHD Batman branch chair Mehmet Bağadır spoke, saying the state was protecting those responsible for the disappearances.

IHD member Mesut Aydın warned that the 'Internal Security Package’ would take the country back to the 1990s.

CİZRE

The Dayikên Şemiyê (Saturday Mothers) held their 323rd weekly protest at ‘mystery killings’ in the 1990s in Sanat Street in the town of Cizre. People wore traditional clothes at the protest in response to efforts to ban the costume in the Internal Security Package.

YÜKSEKOVA

In the town of Yüksekova in Hakkari province the IHD and relatives of the disappeared held their 48th weekly protest. At the protest the cases of Mehmet Yaşar who disappeared in 1994 and Zeki Yılmaz, who was shot 60 times 2 days after being tortured were raised. IHD Yüksekova representative Muhyettin Ünal called for sick prisoners to be released.

Son of Mehmet Yaşar explains what happened to his father

Two days after the funeral of Zeki Yılmaz armoured vehicles came to the house of Mehmet Yaşar and took him away. His son Renas Yaşar explained what happened:

 "My father was 32 years old when he was taken away. There were 5 of us children and the oldest was 10. After my father’s close friend Zeki Yılmaz was killed in custody his body was found by the side of a stream. My father went to the funeral. Some people there warned my father that the police were looking for him and he left. When he realised he was being followed he went to a friend’s house. He then went to the house of a relative of ours, Yusuf Bartın. At around 20.00 after soldiers had blockaded the neighbourhood 4 people in plain clothes claiming to be police told my father they were taking him to the police station to make a statement. After that the police denied he had been taken into custody. They would come to our house and ask my mother: ‘could those in the mountains have taken him?’ My mother told them that the ones in the mountains didn’t have armoured cars or claim to be police. After that they left us alone. In his confessions former guerrilla turned ‘super grass’ Kahraman Bilgiç said: 'Mehmet Yaşar was taken to the battalion on the orders of battalion commander Mehmet Emin Yurdakul. He was severely tortured, after which his elbow bones were visible. Then they put him in a helicopter and took him away. He was probably thrown out of the helicopter.’ We have made applications to the state prosecutor’s office , but have not got anywhere.”