URFA - The investigation file of Özgür Gündem Newspaper's Urfa Representative Kemal Kılıç, who was murdered 29 years ago, was closed with the statute of limitations, but his relatives keep Kemal alive with 40 children named after him.

 

30 people were killed extrajudicially between 1993 and 1997 in Urfa. One of the 'unsolved murders' was the murder of Kemal Kılıç, the Urfa Representative of Özgür Gündem Newspaper, one of the journalists targeted by then President Süleyman Demirel,  who claimed was not a journalist but a militant. Kılıç was killed on February 18, 1993, on the way to the Qûlinç (Külünçe) Neighborhood on the Urfa-Akçakale highway by people who got out of a  vehicle waiting for him at the intersection, one kilometer away from the neighborhood.

 

POLICE HAVE BEEN INVESTIGATING HIM

 

A non-commissioned officer named "Taner" and his assistant named "Oktay", from Uğurlu Gendarmerie Station, where the neighborhood he lived in before he was murdered, started to gather information about Kılıç. Kılıç, who is also a manager at the Human Rights Association (İHD) Urfa Branch, applied to the Urfa Governor's Office and the Urfa Police Department, requesting protection after information was gathered about him, and he was repeatedly threatened and followed. However, Ziyaeddin Akbulut, who was the Governor of Urfa at that time and then elected as a Tekirdağ Deputy from AKP for 3 terms, did not respond to this request.

 

While many documents and witness statements about the murders and disappearances committed in the region indicated it was a murder carried out by JITEM, either no action was taken against these murders or the files were freezed. A lot of work was put in order not to reveal the perpetrators of journalists killed in the middle of the street, just like the thousands of murders with "identified perpetrators" in the 1990s. There were no progress in the investigation file regarding Kılıç's murder, and the file was closed on February 18, 2013 due to the statute of limitations.

 

40 CHILDREN NAMED AFTER KEMAL

 

The belongings of Kılıç, who was killed after being targeted because of the work as a journalist, were also confiscated during a raid on his home. Although some of his belongings were returned as a result of the family's intense efforts, his belongings containing cassettes, typewriters, books and many other materials he used as a journalist were not given back to his family. His relatives started naming their children after him following his murder. At least 40 children were named after him by his relatives living in North and East Syria, aged between 13 and 28.

 

His brother Mahmut Kılıç, who said that Kılıç's greatest weapon was his pen, and his nephew Abdullah Kılıç (51) who said, "He was respected by everyone", named his children Kemal, who was born 13 years ago.

 

'I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK'

 

His brother Mahmut Kılıç, who visits Kılıç's grave in Abdurrahman Dede Mahallesi Cemetery every week for the past 29 years, said that his brother was loved by everyone as a child. Saying that Kılıç decided to become a journalist at a time when journalists are kidnapped, threatened and murdered every day, Kılıç said, "We didn't have a house in the center of Urfa. Kemal had to leave the house early every morning, walk 2 kilometers up to the Akçakale road, take the bus from there and go to the city center to the newspaper office. Journalists were threatened every day. A friend of Kemal's told my father that Kemal was also threatened. However, Kemal said, "I will continue to work no matter what." He was collecting intelligence about the local police station regarding violations of rights and torture, asked for protection, but it was denied. He was murdered shortly after this request." 

 

'WE KNEW THE KILLER'

 

Stating that a person named Ahmet Fidan, who was a night watchman in a construction site near the place where Kılıç was murdered, witnessed the incident, Kılıç said that although he gave a statement at the police station after the incident, they never heard from Fidan again. Stating that the soldiers came to the house 5 days after the incident and confiscated everything that belonged to Kemal, Kılıç said, "They tried to mislead the investigation and asked if he had a problem with a girlfriend. They took our statements several times. They pretended they were investigating the case, but we knew the murderer."  Stating that the Ceska brand pistol used in Kılıç's murder was captured on Hüseyin Günay in a Hezbollah operation in Batman on December 24, 1993, Kılıç said that he was informed by the police station commander at the time, “They told us that they caught the murderer. But the file has expired."

 

THOUSANDS OF KEMALS WERE BORN!

 

Stating that those who murdered Kılıç was actually targeting the tradition of the free press, Kılıç said that the killers could not achieve their goal. Stating that the free press is growing day by day against threats and attacks against it, Kılıç continued: “Kemal's only weapon was his pen. They killed one Kemal, but thousands of Kemals were born. There are 40 people named after Kemal in the village and in Syria, and they all follow Kemal's path. He became an idol for us. Now, when we see free press workers, we feel like Kemal is still alive. 

 

MA / Emrullah Acar