Cizre People’s Assembly Co-chair Asya Yüksel who was massacred in one of the basements of atrocity was laid to rest. Her father Abdulkerim Ürün spoke in the ceremony and said, “Asya strived for the freedom of Kurdistan. We're proud of her."
Cizre People’s Assembly Co-chair Asya Yüksel was murdered during the 78 day long genocidal attacks of the state forces in Şırnak’s Cizre district. Her body was finally laid to rest months after her death in her home town Uludere. Yüksel’s body was mistaken for Azime Yıldızgörer who had also been killed in the basements of atrocity due to an error in identification and was buried in Cizre’s Düzova village by the Yıldızgörer family. Her body was exhumed yesterday from the grave she was buried in 3 months ago and brought to Uludere by her family.
People on the route of the funeral procession gathered on the sides of the road and saluted Yüksel in her coffin with slogans of “Şehîd Namirin” [Martyrs are Immortal] and “Jin, Jiyan, Azadi” [Women, Life, Freedom]. Yüksel’s coffin was brought to the family’s home in the district center on the people’s shoulders. During the ritual of giving blessing, her mother, siblings and children hugged her coffin and sang laments.
Yüksel’s coffin draped with the PKK flag was later carried on the shoulders of women and taken to Özelli Neighborhood Cemetery where she was buried.
FAREWELL WITH SLOGANS
The crowd walking behind the coffin chanted slogans of “Jin jiyan azadi”, “Bijî Serok Apo”, “Şehîd namirin” and “Comrade Asya is immortal”. On the way to the cemetery, the song “Sê jinên azad” was sung as per her will. The song had been written about the 3 Kurdish women politicians Sakine Cansız, Leyla Şaylemez and Fidan Doğan. The march ended in the cemetery and a minute’s silence was held for those who died in the struggle for revolution and democracy.
“WE WILL CONTINUE THEIR STRUGGLE”
HDP Uludere District Co-chair Mesut Paksoy spoke after the minute’s silence and commemorating those who lost their lives in the self-rule resistance fronts, he said, “Comrade Asya has pioneered the self government resistance in Botan and has elevated the Kurdish Freedom Struggle with her blood. We as Asya’s comrades promise all martyrs of ther evolution that we will continue their fight with the same resolve.”
BURIED NEXT TO HER BROTHER
Father Abdulkerim Ürün said, “Asya is life, Asya is serhildan (uprising in Kurdish). Asya is the mother to both Jiyan and Şivan. Asya is a daughter to all of you and a mother. Every person is Asya for us. She became the symbol of serhildan with her resistance. Asya strived for the freedom of Kurdistan. We are proud of Asya.”
After the speeches, Asya Yüksel was buried next to her brother Necmettin Ürün, who was murdered by the state in 1995, with the pushi she owned and some rose bush seeds. Banners with her photographs were hanged in the cemetery following the burial and the crowd left the cemetery with chants and applause.
