The never ending tragedy
The never ending tragedy
The Encü family lost 11 members in the Roboski massacre where 34 civilians, including 17 children, died as a result of Turkish warplanes air strikes.
Faruk Encü (19) has been jailed on the claim that he was in a group attacking the governor of Uludere Naif Yavuz during his visit to the village, a day after the massacre.
Faruk Encü has recently written a letter which worried his family as the boy has spoken of suicide. His cousin Ceylan Encü (16) who has been unable to speak since the massacre and is struggling with serious psychological problems is also said to be in a depressed mood.
"We have suffered enough, we lost 34 people. We do not want to lose anybody anymore," says Ferhat Encü, cousin of Faruk and Ceylan.
Faruk Encü was born in 1993 in Roboski. Soon after his birth his family had to move to the Kurdistan Federal Region due to the state oppression in the area. The family, who lived on border trade, first lost father Zeki Encü in 1994. He had stepped on a landmine on the same path where the Roboski massacre took place. For seven years Faruk lived with his uncle and his family. Faruk's aunt, Halime Encü, who raised Faruk, says he was like brothers with the 11 relatives, including her son, who she lost in the Roboski massacre.
"Do they have no conscience, no laws? What did we do to deserve to go through all these?" cries out Halime Encü, "My daughter Ceylan does not speak, does not recognize us. We are afraid that Faruk will become like Ceylan too."
Halime Encü tells the followings about Faruk and his arrest; “He was a proud and good boy. After seven years of education with us, he moved to Istanbul to stay there with his uncles as he wanted to earn money for himself and his family. On the day of the massacre, he had come from Istanbul to the village. We didn’t give special attention to him as everybody was living his own pain about the deaths. Like everybody else, he also cried for the first two days, then he kept to himself and started not to speak very much with other people. After some time, as condolence visits were beginning to end, he left the house to go to Istanbul, saying that he needed to continue working. However, two hours later we heard about his arrest which actually didn’t worry us very much at first as he had done nothing, a child and a close relative of victims. This is a cruelty and injustice.”
Being concerned about Faruk's situation in the prison, cousin Ferhat Encü emphasizes that Faruk's righteous anger was not towards the governor himself but the state and says that he does not deserve to be in jail. Ferhat demands the release of Faruk and says the followings concerning the situation of Faruk whom he visited in prison after receiving his letter;
“I don’t know about the conditions in prison but he told me during the visit that 67 people were staying in Þýrnak Prison which- he said - has a capacity for 30 people. He said that he is living with the memories of his victim friends as he still couldn’t get over the shock of the event. He told me he cannot go on in these circumstances. We gave his letter to the Uludere Prosecutor's Office and the governorship. The prosecutor told me he was going to deal with Faruk but he did not visit him nor has he taken any interest in his situation. The prison manager also did not take any of my concerns seriously, he on the contrary blamed us for demoralizing him during our visits. We are extremely concerned about Faruk's life as the prison manager smiling told me not to worry when I warned him that the prison authorities would be responsible for anything that happen to Faruk.”
Ferhat added that the Faruk has recently suffered panic attacks as the prison administration has been watching him since his letter was given to the press.
Faruk Encü (19) has been jailed on the claim that he was in a group attacking the governor of Uludere Naif Yavuz during his visit to the village, a day after the massacre.
Faruk Encü has recently written a letter which worried his family as the boy has spoken of suicide. His cousin Ceylan Encü (16) who has been unable to speak since the massacre and is struggling with serious psychological problems is also said to be in a depressed mood.
"We have suffered enough, we lost 34 people. We do not want to lose anybody anymore," says Ferhat Encü, cousin of Faruk and Ceylan.
Faruk Encü was born in 1993 in Roboski. Soon after his birth his family had to move to the Kurdistan Federal Region due to the state oppression in the area. The family, who lived on border trade, first lost father Zeki Encü in 1994. He had stepped on a landmine on the same path where the Roboski massacre took place. For seven years Faruk lived with his uncle and his family. Faruk's aunt, Halime Encü, who raised Faruk, says he was like brothers with the 11 relatives, including her son, who she lost in the Roboski massacre.
"Do they have no conscience, no laws? What did we do to deserve to go through all these?" cries out Halime Encü, "My daughter Ceylan does not speak, does not recognize us. We are afraid that Faruk will become like Ceylan too."
Halime Encü tells the followings about Faruk and his arrest; “He was a proud and good boy. After seven years of education with us, he moved to Istanbul to stay there with his uncles as he wanted to earn money for himself and his family. On the day of the massacre, he had come from Istanbul to the village. We didn’t give special attention to him as everybody was living his own pain about the deaths. Like everybody else, he also cried for the first two days, then he kept to himself and started not to speak very much with other people. After some time, as condolence visits were beginning to end, he left the house to go to Istanbul, saying that he needed to continue working. However, two hours later we heard about his arrest which actually didn’t worry us very much at first as he had done nothing, a child and a close relative of victims. This is a cruelty and injustice.”
Being concerned about Faruk's situation in the prison, cousin Ferhat Encü emphasizes that Faruk's righteous anger was not towards the governor himself but the state and says that he does not deserve to be in jail. Ferhat demands the release of Faruk and says the followings concerning the situation of Faruk whom he visited in prison after receiving his letter;
“I don’t know about the conditions in prison but he told me during the visit that 67 people were staying in Þýrnak Prison which- he said - has a capacity for 30 people. He said that he is living with the memories of his victim friends as he still couldn’t get over the shock of the event. He told me he cannot go on in these circumstances. We gave his letter to the Uludere Prosecutor's Office and the governorship. The prosecutor told me he was going to deal with Faruk but he did not visit him nor has he taken any interest in his situation. The prison manager also did not take any of my concerns seriously, he on the contrary blamed us for demoralizing him during our visits. We are extremely concerned about Faruk's life as the prison manager smiling told me not to worry when I warned him that the prison authorities would be responsible for anything that happen to Faruk.”
Ferhat added that the Faruk has recently suffered panic attacks as the prison administration has been watching him since his letter was given to the press.
