Saturday Mothers: Coup mentality still alive
Saturday Mothers: Coup mentality still alive
Saturday Mothers held their weekly sit in in Istanbul, Diyarbakýr, Batman and Þýrnak on Saturday. “They put on trial the September 12 military coup generals but the mentality of the coup is still alive in Turkey", say the mothers in Istanbul.
The Saturday Mothers gathered for the 367th time in Istanbul repeating their demand for justice for enforced disappearances and unsolved murders.
Actress and human rights activist Nur Sürer said on behalf of families of missing persons, “It has been a year since Cemil Kýrbayýr’s murder by the state has been revealed. Cemil has still no grave and those responsible for his murder are not on trial. Is this the way you think you can settle the crimes of the September 12 military coup? Veysel Güney, who was executed, has still not been given to his family. You are jailing those opposing your policies of oppression.”
This week’s sit-in in Istanbul was dedicated to Talat Türkoðlu who disappeared after being taken into custody on April 1, 1996. It was reminded that Kasým Açýk confessed the crime, saying that Türkoðlu was killed by Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terror Unit (JÝTEM) members Murat Demir and Murat Ýpek. The demonstrators demanded a pproper investigation of the case for which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Turkey guilty five years ago.
Sit-ins were also held in Diyarbakýr and Batman. Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Coordination Council member Akýn Birdal said, “Turkey has a history of assassinations. We have to face our history” as People’s Republican Party (CHP) Deputy Rýza Tümen emphasized the necessity of establishing truth commissions in the Parliament.
The sit-in in the Cizre Town of Þýrnak was dedicated to Fikri Þen who disappeared after being taken away by soldiers in Cizre in 1994. Þen’s mother told that the soldiers first burnt the houses in the village and then took away five people who disappeared afterwards. “Is this justice?,” asked Adile Þen.
The Saturday Mothers gathered for the 367th time in Istanbul repeating their demand for justice for enforced disappearances and unsolved murders.
Actress and human rights activist Nur Sürer said on behalf of families of missing persons, “It has been a year since Cemil Kýrbayýr’s murder by the state has been revealed. Cemil has still no grave and those responsible for his murder are not on trial. Is this the way you think you can settle the crimes of the September 12 military coup? Veysel Güney, who was executed, has still not been given to his family. You are jailing those opposing your policies of oppression.”
This week’s sit-in in Istanbul was dedicated to Talat Türkoðlu who disappeared after being taken into custody on April 1, 1996. It was reminded that Kasým Açýk confessed the crime, saying that Türkoðlu was killed by Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terror Unit (JÝTEM) members Murat Demir and Murat Ýpek. The demonstrators demanded a pproper investigation of the case for which the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) found Turkey guilty five years ago.
Sit-ins were also held in Diyarbakýr and Batman. Democratic Society Congress (DTK) Coordination Council member Akýn Birdal said, “Turkey has a history of assassinations. We have to face our history” as People’s Republican Party (CHP) Deputy Rýza Tümen emphasized the necessity of establishing truth commissions in the Parliament.
The sit-in in the Cizre Town of Þýrnak was dedicated to Fikri Þen who disappeared after being taken away by soldiers in Cizre in 1994. Þen’s mother told that the soldiers first burnt the houses in the village and then took away five people who disappeared afterwards. “Is this justice?,” asked Adile Þen.
