MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed (Diyarbakır)– Hakan Arslan lost his life in the Sur district of Amed seven years ago after clashes broke out in the district. Several days ago, his bones were delivered to his father in a sack by the Turkish authorities. A photo showing the father waiting in front of the Diyarbakır Courthouse holding a sack sparks anger across the country. The Kurdish people commenting on the photo say, “The continuation of years of persecution”. “We will continue to struggle for the bones of our relatives and the bones having been delivered in sacks,” the relatives of disappeared say.

“It is a fascist practice”

Remziye Bayram, mother of Mehmet Şirin Bayram, who disappeared after being taken into custody in Diyarbakır’s Kulp district in 1996, has been holding on to life for years in the hope of finding his son's bones. “It is a fascist practice,” she said while talking about the delivery of Hakan Arslan’s bones in a sack to his father.

“We should bring those who delivered the bones to the father to account”

“We have been looking for our children’s bones for years. Several days ago, a father received his son’s bones in a sack. The state has never changed. It is the same fascist state but we will continue to struggle against fascism to the end. We should change this state and find our children’s bones. We should bring those who delivered the bones to the father to account. We will take our rights and the rights of our children back from them. We will never give up,” Remziye Bayram told NuJINHA.

“There is no justice in Turkey”

Pointing out that there is no justice or law in Turkey, Remziye Bayram emphasized that Turkey is not a Muslim but a fascist state. “If my son’s bones are found, I will continue to struggle for other relatives of the disappeared. The delivery of the bones in a sack is an inhuman practice. There is no justice and law in Turkey. We will keep struggling to find our children’s bones despite everything.”

“We face such practices because we are Kurds”

Selime Çakır is also one of the relatives of the disappeared. Her husband İbrahim Kartay was killed in custody in 1994. She has been struggling for years in order to find her husband’s bones. Speaking about the delivery of Hakan Arslan’s bones in a sack, she said, “His bones were found. The delivery of his bones in a sack is the shame of the state. We face such inhuman practices because we are Kurds. In the past, our people were forcibly disappeared in custody, today our people are killed and their bones are delivered to their relatives in sacks. The Turkish state has carried out such inhuman practices against us for years. We struggle to have our relatives’ graves.”