Turkish State strategy is barring Kurds from politics
Turkish State strategy is barring Kurds from politics
This is an edited version of a story written by Guler Can for DIHA News Agency.
The story of Nurettin Bilir is somehow an example of how the current Turkish state strategy of "let the Kurds no political ways open to state their demands" translated into practice.
Nurettin Bilir was a Kurdish guerrilla. He lost his life in Bingöl on March 18, following clashes with the Turkish army.
As he deemed important to bring to the country's political agenda the Kurdish question, Bilir left his wife and three children and went to the mountains to join the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) after being sentenced to 36 years in prison for allegedly “taking medicine to PKK members.
Bilir was born in the Babanis village in the province of Gürpýnar in 1972 and in 1989 he got married. Bilir and his wife had three children, Berivan, Mahzun and Bünyamin. The family shared the fate of many Kurdish families and migrated to Van in 1994 in search of employment. Nurettin Bilir, who was trying to maintain his family as a construction worker in Ankara and Istanbul, had always been very interested in Kurdish politics. Brought to court in 2007 and accused of allegedly “taking medicine to PKK members” , Bilir was sentenced to 36 years in prison for allegedly being “a member of the organization”. After being formally charged, Bilir decided to leave for the mountains and join the PKK. He was a PKK member till his death on March 18. He lost his life in the rural area between the villages of Kigý and Adaklý, in the province of Bingol.
The story of Bilir and ultimately of his death is also the story of his wife and their three children. A family proud of their husband and father. Bilir’s brother, Fahrettin Bilir, helped the family who lived in poverty, while children Berivan and Mahzun had to leave their schools because of financial difficulties.
Bilir’s nephew Fuat underlined that his uncle was forced to leave his family because he could not do politics in the open. That option, the political work in the streets had been taken away from him when he had been sentenced to 36 years imprisonment. The responsibility of Bilir's decision ultimately lies with the Turkish state which does not want to solve the Kurdish question through dialogue.
“The state forced him to go as he had no possibility to work legally. - said Fuat - However, his death will not end everything. We will continue to defend our values. We don’t die because they kill us and jail us”.
Bilir’s wife is overwhelmed by sorrow and grief and yet she managed to say that she is proud of her husband. Eighteen years old daughter Berivan tells of her grief. She tells how she broke down when she learned that her father lost his life. It was five years she had no news from him. Berivan adds that she is proud of him and she will fight the tears back. "We all miss him too much but we will move on. We are proud of him”.
Brother Fahrettin Bilir said they heard the news on the television and immediately went to the morgue to reclaim his body. Bilir stated that his brother’s body disfigured beyond recognition with torture signs all over. An appeal was made to Kiðý Chief Prosecutor Office to reclaim the body. “When I told the Prosecutor office that the body belonged to my brother, they loaded a CD and showed me his photos in order to identify him. My brother was disfigured beyond recognition. I was horrified when I saw his body covered by torture signs. His face was covered with blood and was so disfigured I could hardly distinguish his nose and mouth. He had bullet marks on his head. I saw something terrfiying. Nobody would do what Turkey does”.
Bilir's body his brother saw on the CD display was completely burnt and seemed like burnt by chemicals. Bilir's brother said that his brother’s body had been buried in the council graveyard where the nameless are buried. Bilir body was buried there after being kept at Elazig Firat University Medical Faculty Hospital’s morgue for 15 days. Adding that the body was buried in a body bag, Bilir says; “They dug up some ground and threw him face-down in there. And this is a state which calls itself Muslim. We recovered the body and brought it to Bingöl where we called the Mayor of Güroymak (Bitlis) to tell him that we wanted to wash the body. He accepted but the body was not washed by imams who have been instructed not to wash any guerrilla body. So, with the assistance of BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) local members we washed and enshroud my brother's body. Prime Minister Erdogan says he is a Muslim. Many imams say they are muslims. But people can’t pray behind these imams. ”
The story of Nurettin Bilir is somehow an example of how the current Turkish state strategy of "let the Kurds no political ways open to state their demands" translated into practice.
Nurettin Bilir was a Kurdish guerrilla. He lost his life in Bingöl on March 18, following clashes with the Turkish army.
As he deemed important to bring to the country's political agenda the Kurdish question, Bilir left his wife and three children and went to the mountains to join the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) after being sentenced to 36 years in prison for allegedly “taking medicine to PKK members.
Bilir was born in the Babanis village in the province of Gürpýnar in 1972 and in 1989 he got married. Bilir and his wife had three children, Berivan, Mahzun and Bünyamin. The family shared the fate of many Kurdish families and migrated to Van in 1994 in search of employment. Nurettin Bilir, who was trying to maintain his family as a construction worker in Ankara and Istanbul, had always been very interested in Kurdish politics. Brought to court in 2007 and accused of allegedly “taking medicine to PKK members” , Bilir was sentenced to 36 years in prison for allegedly being “a member of the organization”. After being formally charged, Bilir decided to leave for the mountains and join the PKK. He was a PKK member till his death on March 18. He lost his life in the rural area between the villages of Kigý and Adaklý, in the province of Bingol.
The story of Bilir and ultimately of his death is also the story of his wife and their three children. A family proud of their husband and father. Bilir’s brother, Fahrettin Bilir, helped the family who lived in poverty, while children Berivan and Mahzun had to leave their schools because of financial difficulties.
Bilir’s nephew Fuat underlined that his uncle was forced to leave his family because he could not do politics in the open. That option, the political work in the streets had been taken away from him when he had been sentenced to 36 years imprisonment. The responsibility of Bilir's decision ultimately lies with the Turkish state which does not want to solve the Kurdish question through dialogue.
“The state forced him to go as he had no possibility to work legally. - said Fuat - However, his death will not end everything. We will continue to defend our values. We don’t die because they kill us and jail us”.
Bilir’s wife is overwhelmed by sorrow and grief and yet she managed to say that she is proud of her husband. Eighteen years old daughter Berivan tells of her grief. She tells how she broke down when she learned that her father lost his life. It was five years she had no news from him. Berivan adds that she is proud of him and she will fight the tears back. "We all miss him too much but we will move on. We are proud of him”.
Brother Fahrettin Bilir said they heard the news on the television and immediately went to the morgue to reclaim his body. Bilir stated that his brother’s body disfigured beyond recognition with torture signs all over. An appeal was made to Kiðý Chief Prosecutor Office to reclaim the body. “When I told the Prosecutor office that the body belonged to my brother, they loaded a CD and showed me his photos in order to identify him. My brother was disfigured beyond recognition. I was horrified when I saw his body covered by torture signs. His face was covered with blood and was so disfigured I could hardly distinguish his nose and mouth. He had bullet marks on his head. I saw something terrfiying. Nobody would do what Turkey does”.
Bilir's body his brother saw on the CD display was completely burnt and seemed like burnt by chemicals. Bilir's brother said that his brother’s body had been buried in the council graveyard where the nameless are buried. Bilir body was buried there after being kept at Elazig Firat University Medical Faculty Hospital’s morgue for 15 days. Adding that the body was buried in a body bag, Bilir says; “They dug up some ground and threw him face-down in there. And this is a state which calls itself Muslim. We recovered the body and brought it to Bingöl where we called the Mayor of Güroymak (Bitlis) to tell him that we wanted to wash the body. He accepted but the body was not washed by imams who have been instructed not to wash any guerrilla body. So, with the assistance of BDP (Peace and Democracy Party) local members we washed and enshroud my brother's body. Prime Minister Erdogan says he is a Muslim. Many imams say they are muslims. But people can’t pray behind these imams. ”
