It is exactly one year since Deniz Poyraz was murdered in the racially motivated attack on the HDP headquarters in the western Turkish metropolis of Izmir. On the occasion of the first anniversary of her death, she was remembered in many places in Turkey and Northern Kurdistan. Larger commemorative events took place in her birthplace, Mardin, as well as in Şırnak, Malatya, Urfa, Ankara, Mersin and Adana.

In Izmir, a funeral service was first held at the scene of the crime. Among the guests was HDP MP Serpil Kemalbay. The politician described the murder of the 38-year-old Kurdish woman by a fascist as an "expression of ignorance of democratic politics and the will of the people". The fact that the attack happened despite round-the-clock police surveillance of the building housing the Izmir HDP points to a "state crime", Kemalbay said.

Deniz Poyraz was shot with six bullets at the HDP headquarters in the Konak district on 17 June 2021. On that day, a board meeting with about forty people was supposed to take place in the building, but was postponed at short notice. The HDP therefore spoke early on of a massacre that was planned to take place there.

At the commemoration ceremony, HDP group deputy chair Saruhan Oluç addressed the way the state and the judiciary dealt with the murderer. "How can it be that a heavily armed assassin can calmly pass the police checkpoint in front of this building in order to murder our friend Deniz in a heinous way with the aim of carrying out a massacre? Could it have happened because the dark side of power was involved in the crime? Is it possibly the mercenary group SADAT that trained the assassin? Or did he fight in the jihadist ranks of ISIS, FSA, Al-Nusra or HTS? Whose assassin is the killer and who is protecting him within the state? These are questions to which this government still does not give us an answer," said Oluç.

At exactly 10:50 a.m., the time of the crime, a minute of silence was held at the scene of the murder. The silence was broken by the slogan "Deniz Poyraz is immortal". The guests then drove together to the cemetery in Buca district, where Poyraz is buried. Her mother Fehime said, looking at the large mourners: "Deniz is no longer just my Deniz. She is the daughter of the Kurdish people because Deniz dedicated herself to the struggle of her people." Behiye Yalçın, who is part of the Peace Mothers initiative, stated: "As mothers, our most ardent wish is to come together in times of peace and freedom. We can no longer bear the sight of our children's graves. Their bodies are handed to us in boxes. This brings a sense of death. We want justice for our children and for all those who have been wronged. But most especially, we want justice for Deniz Poyraz."

After these powerful words, the guests laid red carnations at Deniz Poyraz's grave. In the evening, her parents invited them to a mourning dinner.