The Association for Assistance, Solidarity, Unity and Culture for Families Who Lost Their Relatives in the Cradle of Civilizations (MEBYA-DER) made a statement on the 9th anniversary of the "curfew" declared in the Cizîr (Cizre) district of Şirnak on 14 December 2015 and the genocidal attacks by the Turkish state. The demonstration held in front of the Peoples' Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) building was attended by the relatives of the people killed, as well as the Honorary President of the Human Rights Association, Akın Birdal.

'There are still bodies whose fate is unknown'

Fahrettin Salğucak, one of the executives of MEBYA-DER Şirnak Representative Office, pointed out that the perpetrators have not been tried despite 9 years having passed, and added: "The whereabouts of the bodies of 11 people are still unknown. While the applications made for the perpetrators of the murders to be tried have been largely fruitless, either permanent search warrants have been issued for the perpetrators or decisions of non-prosecution have been made in the investigation files. The people living in our district, which has a population of 150 thousands were left without any basic needs for 79 days. They were left to die hungry and thirsty in their homes." Emphasizing that they will not forget what happened, Salğucak said: "The Kurdish people will never forget Cemile Çağırga, whose body was in a refrigerator for 9 days, 3-month-old Miray baby who was murdered in her grandfather's arms, and 79-year-old Mehmet Erdoğan, whose body was left on the street for days after he was murdered while leaving home to find bread for his grandchildren."

Referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, IHD Honorary President Akın Birdal said: "The beginning of the declaration says that people are born free, equal in dignity and rights. And it foresees that everyone should live equally and freely regardless of their language, religion, identity and gender. The declaration has no legal obligation. It is left to the regimes, justice and conscience of those countries. But unfortunately, today, the world's rules are broken and the rights of the peoples are unprotected and defenseless." Emphasizing that peace must be achieved as soon as possible, Birdal added: "Wars kill people, they kill the air, they kill water, they kill living creatures, they kill colors and languages. I hope and pray that this tragedy and pain will not be forgotten. Let us all work together for an equal, free, democratic and peaceful Turkey so that the same pain will not be experienced again."