The Suruç Families Initiative organized the 74th protest they held on the 20th of every month on Halitağa Street in Kadıköy, Istanbul, demanding justice. Şahin Tümüklü, co-chair of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), attended the action while the families called for participation in the hearing to be held on 29 September.

Murat Budak, father of one of the young people who lost their lives in Suruç, Vatan Budak, read the statement. Stating that the camera recordings that were supposed to be collected right after the massacre were not fully included in the case file after 6 years, Budak added: “The most critical 5 hours of footage are missing. We want these images to be included in the file as well. The man called Halef Süleyman, who was captured last January and pointed out by the Ministry of Interior as the man to have supplied the bombs used in the Suruç massacre, has not been included in the file. It should be asked how this person obtained the bombs, how he conveyed them to Abdurrahman Alagöz, who carried out the massacre, and who helped them.”

Reminding that the accused Yakup Şahin was never brought to the courtroom during the previous 19 hearings, Budak underlined that Şahin should be finally brought to court and the family and lawyers should be able to ask him questions. “There are so many shortcomings in the Suruç massacre case that it appears clear that the intention is to closed it. The links and help behind the massacre have not been revealed, it is aimed at targeting those who were immortalized in the Suruç massacre. The court wants to show our 33 children that they were at least 50 percent ‘guilty’ because they went to Suruç in the first place. In other words, the authorities want to show that killers and victims are on the same level.”