On December 19, 2017, the Garzan Cemetery in the countryside of Oleka Jor village in Bedlîs (Bitlis), where 267 PKK members who died in various periods were buried, was demolished with construction equipment and 267 bodies were sent to the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institution (ATK). It was revealed that the bodies sent to the ATK were buried under the sidewalk in Kilyos Cemetery in Istanbul. Two years after the ATK process, DNA matches were made for 10 people and the bodies were given to their families. Until today, the bodies of approximately 30 people have been handed over to their families. For 7 years, the struggle of the families who have not received their bodies still continues.

 

Nuriye Turan is one of the 10 people who received the bodies of their children 2 years after the ATK process. Nuriye Turan, who received the body of her son Fedakar Turan, buried him on December 14, 2019 in Gozeldere village in Tatwan (Tatvan) district of Bedlis, where he was born. 

 

Fedakar Turan, who was born in Gozeldere village in 1975, joined the PKK in 1993. Turan was killed in an armed clash in 1994 along with 2 of his friends. The bodies of Turan and 2 PKK members who died in the clash in Xîzan district were burned by the soldiers of Kısıklı Gendarmerie Station. Özgür Ülke newspaper, which was published at the time, reported the incident on August 7, 1994 with the headline “Shame on humanity!”. The Turan family took the body of their child from Gever and buried it in the Gozeldere village cemetery. After 12 years of burial, Turan's body was buried in the Garzan Cemetery, which was built during the period when dialogue talks continued. 

 

THE HEADLINE SHE KEEEP FOR 30 YEARS

 

Mother Nuriye Turan, who kept the Özgür Ülke newspaper's headline “Shame on humanity!”, said that she was trying to keep her memory alive, full of pain and belief. Nuriye Turan said that she kept her son's poems, letters and photographs so that they would not be seized.  

 

'HE WAS HELD THERE FOR DAYS'

 

Stating that her son was a conscious and organized person, his mother Nuriye Turan said that her son was very affected by the death of 3 PKK members in Tetwan and joined the PKK. Nuriye Turan said that her son's body was not buried for days and was held at the place where he was shot and added: “The village guards vandalized his body, and even though he was dead, they had scanned his body with guns again. Then we went to the village to get the bodies. They showed a lot of difficulty, but we got our bodies and buried them in the village.” 

 

'I WAS LOOKING UNDER THE STONES'

 

Nuriye Turan said that they tried to remove her son's body after he was buried and that they later buried his body in Garzan Cemetery, “After we buried the body in Garzan, they didn't give us peace again. Then the state entered the cemetery with diggers and tried to demolish it. But at that time, in their first attempt, the PKK did not allow it. Then they tried again and razed the whole cemetery to the ground. It wasn't just our bodies, there were 267 people's bodies there. They kidnapped the bodies and took them away. I couldn't believe it at the time, then I went there and saw that the martyrdom had been razed to the ground. Not even a single gravestone was left. I was going there until it was banned, believing that my son's bones were there. I was looking under the stones, but there were none. Our pain is always fresh and our hearts are always burning,” she said.  

 

'PROSECUTOR: WHAT WILL YOU DO WITH THE PILE OF BONES?

 

Nuriye Turan stated that she had applied for her son's body and said, “The prosecutor asked, 'Are you sure your son is there? The prosecutor's office said that they had taken all the bodies to Kilyos. I petitioned three or five times, went to the prosecutor's office. It wasn't just me, there were many families from Bedlîs, Tetwan and Xîzan. We never gave up our struggle to get the body, we went to the door of the state and resisted until we got it. We had many meetings with the prosecutor's office and in one meeting the prosecutor's office asked, 'What are you going to do with the pile of bones? I was taking strength from my son's bones and believing in them. I told the prosecutor's office; 'My son's bones enter my dreams and say, 'Take me from here'. This is where we get our strength and faith from.” 

 

'OUR STRUGGLE WILL CONTINUE'

 

Emphasising that the Kurdish people have been resisting and struggling for centuries despite all the suffering, Nuriye Turan said: "I have been living for 75 years, I will do whatever I can even at this hour. Our struggle will continue until there is not a single fighter left and we will get our rights. Because we are doing the right thing, we are struggling to take what is ours. The dream of establishing Kurdistan will always be alive, because we will not forget this memory and what we have experienced. Not only the blood of my son, but the blood of thousands of guerrillas has been shed for this land. I have thousands of sons and thousands of daughters. All Kurdish people must be united so that we can glorify this struggle. I had surgery on both of my feet, even if they tell me now, I will stand up and fight despite this."

 

Emphasising that they do not accept the persecution and disrespect shown to the funerals, Nuriye Turan called for a united struggle against the persecution and continued: "They took 267 funerals and kidnapped them. They placed our bodies under the pavements. What is this disrespect for the dead? The only reason why all of these bodies have not been taken until today is the silence of our people. Millions should have gathered there. We are making the enemy happy by remaining silent like this. But now it is time to unite and make a noise. Because we are right and the Turkish state is wrong. They are trying to intimidate us by carrying out different policies with cannons, tanks, myths, agents, but their power is still not enough for us."

 

MA / Ruken Polat / Mazlum Engindeniz