MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed – On June 7, 2022, human bones were found in three separate bags in the Arabuk (Tutumlu) District of Hilvan district of Urfa during the stone clearing process in a field. In the same month, human bones were found in the Cevatpaşa neighborhood of Diyarbakır’s Sur district during the restoration work at an ancient castle in the district. The two places were allegedly used as the headquarters of JİTEM, an unofficial intelligence agency of the Turkish Gendarmerie, in the 1990s. While the bones were collected with the order issued by the prosecutor's offices in two cities, no information has been received about if any DNA test has been done to identify the bones. The families of the disappeared looking for their loved ones, who were disappeared in the 1990s, call on the prosecutors to demand DNA tests be done for the identification of the bones and on human rights organizations to follow up the case.

The bones become a hope for the families

In the 1990s, thousands of people were forcibly disappeared in custody and more became the victims of unsolved murders in Turkey. The families of disappeared have been holding actions in many cities in order to find at least the bones of their relatives. They come together every Saturday in many cities such as Diyarbakır, İstanbul, İzmir and Batman to learn what happened to their relatives.

Two brothers were killed

İffet Mutaş is one of the people holding an action in Diyarbakır to find their disappeared relatives. Her two brothers named Mehmet Tekdağ and Ali Tekdağ were killed in the 90s. She has been struggling for years in order to find the perpetrators of her brothers. Indicating that she has been struggling to find at least her brothers’ bones, İffet Mutaş said that she is ready to give a blood sample for the identification of the found bones.

“I am ready to give blood sample for the identification of the bones”

“We have been here for years, we have been waiting for them. We heard that my brothers had been killed in 1994. However, we have not found their bodies. Every Saturday, I come here to ask where my brothers’ bodies are. Like other people, we want to visit their graves and pray for them. Now, we do not have their graves and bones. I am ready to give a blood sample for the identification of the found bones. All I want is to find only a piece of them,” İffet Mutaş told NuJINHA.

“They have hid bones”

Feride Gündem, one of the relatives of disappeared, has been struggling to find her disappeared relative. Her brother is one of the people who were disappeared in the 1990s. Underlining that she has been struggling to find at least the bones of her brother, Feride Gündem said, “We want to find his bones. We know that he is not alive anymore. My parents looked for him for years and died without finding him. They have hid the bones of disappeared people and haven’t told where they are. These people come here every Saturday to find the bones of their relatives.”