DİYARBAKIR - Stating that more than a thousand who lost thereir lives in the armed clashes with the state are being buried in the 'cemetery of the nameless', MEBYA-DER Co-chair Şeyhmus Karadağ said the applications made by the families were ignored.

 

The bodies of many of those who lost their lives in the armed clashes with the Turkish state are not released to their families. While cemeteries were being established for the bodies who were buried in the cemetery of the nameless that was found as a result of the efforts of human's rights organisations, families of more than a thousand people who died as a result of the armed clashes are denied the right to be buried by their loved ones.

 

After the destruction of Garzan Cemetery in Oleka Jor village of Bitlis on December 19, 2017, 282 bodies were buried in Kilyos cemetery under the pavements, where they were taken for DNA. In the past 4 years, only 21 bodies have been released to their families.

 

MORE THAN A THOUSAND BODIES

 

Sheikhmus Karadağ, Co-chair of the Association for Aid, Solidarity, Unity and Culture with Families Who Lost Their Relatives in the Cradle of Civilizations (MEBYA-DER), said that over a thousand bodies were buried in the cemeteries of the nameless. Karadağ said that according to the MEBYA-DER data, 270 bodies are buried in Malatya, 200 bodies are buried in Siirt, 82 bodies are buried in Şırnak, 75 bodies are buried in Van, 75 bodies are buried in Batman, 71 bodies are buried in Urfa, 50 bodies are buried in Mardin, 40 bodies are buried in Erzurum, 30 bodies are buried Elazığ, 40 bodies are buried in Bingöl,, 25-30 bodies are buried in Adana, 29 bodies are buried in Diyarbakır and 9 bodies are buried in Adıyaman's cemetery of the nameless and these bodies were not released to their families.

 

Stating that the families applied to recieve the bodies many times, Karadağ said: "But the families were given a negative response every time they applied. They bury the bodies in the cemetery of the nameless without the knowladge of the families. None of them are orphans. All of them have families.

 

THE BODY WAS SENT TO THE FORENSIC MEDICINE INSTITUDE

 

Underlining that the grieving process does not end before the body is buried in the Kurdish culture, Karadağ said AKP knows this and doesn't release the bodies on purpose to cause more suffering to these families. After HPG member Zindan Yeni who lost his life in an armed clash with the state forces in the rural area of Diyarbakır's Dicle district in September 2021 was identified, his family applied to recieve his body, Karadağ said: "The body has not been released to the family for months. They reason this with the fact that his cause of death was not determined. His body was taken to İstanbul Forensic Medicine Institude for this. We believe that he was killed with chemical weapons because they have been stalling us and not releasing the body for so long. They want the body to decay and the evidence to be inusable. According to the Dicle prosecuter there is only 4 fingers left from him. How can this be possible?

 

Reminding that the families of YPS/ YPS-JIN who died between 2015-2016 during the 'Self-government Resistance' gave blood samples to claim the bodies of their relatives, Karadağ, said: "The blood samples given by the families were found dumped in Diyarbakır Yeniköy Cemetery. How did these tubes got there? Someone must explain this."

 

THE FAMILIES ARE BEING THREATENED

 

Stating that the families are being threatened over MEBYA-DER, Karadağ said: "The families are told that they shouldn't allow MEBYA-DER to attend the funerals. Our association is an institutional. How can the families solve their problems if we don't provide legal aid? It is just like saying that they don't recongize these families and the young men and women who died in the clashes will remain where they were killed. This is not humane. One must respect the dead. What they want is to break the bond between the family and our association. But this will not work. The families are in this struggle with their association and we will continue to put effort to claim those bodies no matter what. If there are families who can not claim the bodies of their loved ones, they should apply to us. We will always be with our families and stand by them."

 

 

MA / Mehmet Güleş