800th day of sit-in protest of Şenyaşar family

On the 800th day of their sit-in protest, the Şenyaşar family says they will struggle for justice to the end and calls for solidarity.

Riha (Urfa) - The sit-in protest held in front of the Urfa Courthouse by Emine Şenyaşar, whose husband and two sons were murdered in the attack carried out by the relatives and bodyguards of AKP Urfa MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız in Pirsûs (Turkish: Suruç) district of Urfa province on June 14, 2018, and her son Ferit Şenyaşar has entered its 800th day.

In the morning, Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit Şenyaşar came in front of the courthouse from their home in Pirsûs to seek justice again by unfurling a banner reading, “We have just demanded justice for 5 years”. Today, the members of Riha (Urfa) Bar Association, the Lawyers Association for Freedom (ÖHD) and the Human Rights Association (IHD) visited the family in front of the courthouse.

 Green Left Party Urfa MP Ferit Şenyaşar made a speech, saying, “Our elders say, ‘If you lose something, look in the place where you have lost it.' We have been looking for justice where we have lost it. If we had struggled for justice, this incident would have gone down in history as an unsolved murder. Thanks to our struggle, a legal case was opened. As a human rights defender, I will go to parliament on June 2. I will maintain our struggle for justice at the parliament.” In his speech, Ferit Şenyaşar called on NGOs, political parties and lawyers’ organizations not to leave his mother Emine Şenyaşar alone in her struggle for justice.

 ‘I do not accept this state’

After his speech, Emine Şenyaşar also made a speech, saying, “There is neither state nor law. They have put my son (Fadıl Şenyaşar) in a solitary cell while the killers have been walking freely. Why are they not arrested? Enough, I demand the release of my son. We began to sit here because we are oppressed. This state is a state of oppression. The records of security cameras of the hospital should be revealed so that everyone sees who murdered my children. Why do you hide the records? I do not accept this state.”