Rojda Aydın

 

ŞIRNAK - Taybet Inan, whose dead body was kept on the street for seven days, was killed in Silopi 5 years ago and her last words were "I am cold, I am very thirsty".  Her daughter Halime Akın said, "We will not forget her. Not only for five years, we will mourn for centuries."

 

Taybet Inan was became in the memories as 'Mother Taybet'. Her dead body was kept on the street for 7 days. MotherTaybet witnessed the death of her two children in a mine explosion in 1993. After 23 years, she was murdered on the street and her children witnessed it. Five years have passed since the murder of Mother Taybet, who was shot by snipers on December 19, 2015 in the district where there was a curfew. Taybet, who was injured for hours, was tried to be taken from the street by her children, husband, and brother-in-law but they could not even take a step as a result of the shots by snipers every time they wanted to go out. Her brother-in-law, Yusuf Inan, who wanted to take Mother Taybet's body, was shot and murdered too.

 

5 years of mourning

 

People who went to take the body with white flags for Taybet Ana (who stayed on the street for 7 days) were also shot and her husband was injured. 23 days later, Mother Taybet's body was buried  without allowing her children and her husband to attend.

 

The words of Halime Akın (daughter of Mother Taybet) were as follows: “We did not sleep at all, birds and dogs would come and harm our mother. My mother lay there and our souls died just a few meters away from her ”.

 

As Halime told what happened, all family members remembered what happened at that time in deep pain. Halime, who starts to talk about her mother, wipes her tears with her hand and begins to tell about her mother, the moment of the massacre and what she felt.

 

Her last words: 'I'm cold, I'm very thirsty'

 

Halime, who started saying “After having breakfast in the morning, she went to the neighbor's house to understand if they needed something or not”, continues as follows: “My mother went to her neighbor's as usual. While she was coming home from the neighbor she saw that her house was burning. As she watched that, my mother said, "My house is on fire, it is not worth more than the dead young people.". Then she turns out to put out the fire. Our neighbors could not stop her. The next day, her neighbor went to feed their cow and they saw my mother on the street. She was shot on the street by the government' snipers. Later her neighbors called and informed my family about her. We couldn't think the injured person was our mother. My mother was injured in her foot and arm. My father tried to go near her and to rescue her. When my father went to rescue my mother, my mother was telling him, "Don't come! They will shoot you, too." My father said to her, "I will throw a rope at you, if you can hold it, I can pull you." When my father threw the rope, shots started again and a bullet hit my father's hand. My mother was saying to my father, "I am cold, I am very thirsty." Snipers shot my uncle Yusuf too when he tried to rescue my mother.

 

My father called the police and said, "My wife is stuck on the street, my brother is injured." We requested an ambulance. We said, "Give us an ambulance, we will bring it ourselves." They wanted us to go out with white flags. We went out with white flags and the snipers started to shoot. They sniped at the street  three times while we were with white flags. They were sniping at people. Seven days passed like this. We could have rescued my mother if there were no snippers. My mother died there and her lifeless body was left on the street for days. We were just in deep despair. " 

 

She watched her mother from the window for 7 days and 7 nights

 

Halime said she was watching her mother from the window of their neighbors' house, where they were stuck for seven days and seven nights. She continued : ''We never slept because birds and dogs would come. My mother lay there, and we died with her just a few meters away. We also died with her. The state made us suffer for seven days. My mother's funeral was in the middle of the street for seven days. Every time I looked at my mother's face,  she looked like she was in a deep sleep. We will never forget this cruelty and brutality. What was our crime? What did we do? Why did the government leave us without a mother? We will never forget what my mother lived. We will never give up on my mother's case. We will continue to be on this path and follow the case until the end. We will tell this case to our children and grandchildren so that she will not be forgotten. We watched the death of my mother, my mother watched the deaths of her children.  They didn't even let us burial her body. My mother's last words were ''Your sister and brother( Meryem and Süleyman) entrusted you''.  If centuries pass, not only in 5 years, we will mourn our grief and we will not forget it. We will wear these black headscarves to not forget our mourning and suffering. We hope not to see those days again. We don't want anyone to experience that dark day.''

 

'She was a wise person'

 

Halime, who cannot control her tears when she says "Every time I say mom, my heart is full with fires," underlines that Mother Taybet behaved all children as her own children. Continuing to tell, Halime, again wiping her tears with her hands, talks about her mother with the following words: ''She was a conscious person. Anyone who knew my mother would respect her. She was very friendly. Her house was always full of guests. Since Mother Taybet was an educated, cultured and conscious person, everyone respected her. Her house and chat would never be empty. She was a wise person. The memories about her live here. We miss her. My longing for her increases day by day. Still we don't understand what she did to be murdered... Why did they murder her? She was just a mother. I experience my mother's pain every day and I do not forget. I will not forget until I die. Every minute, and second my mother is on my mind.''

 

Taybet Inan's two children were murdered in 1993

 

Saying "This is not the first time", Halime reminds us of the murder of her siblings, 12-year-old Esmer and 4-year-old Botan, in 1993. Halime expresses that process with the following sentences: “My mother's life was always in pain. Despite all the persecution and oppression, my mother never gave up on her struggle. They killed two of my siblings in the year 1993. The children had gone out to play. When they did not come, my mother and my aunt went out to find them. They saw that soldiers were gathering at the beginning of the neighborhood. They also walked towards that crowd. They went and asked the soldiers, their children were missing, but the soldiers pointed their weapons at them. My mother tried to enter among the soldiers at that time, but they did not allow it. When the soldiers were prevented, one of them asked ''which soldier knows Kurdish?'' One of them spoke in Kurdish. The soldier asked in Kurdish, "What do you want?" And my mother said "my children are missing." The soldier asks, "Is your son uncircumcised?" She said "yes, my son is uncircumcised." The soldier asked my mother again, "Does your daughter have long hair?" She said "yes".

 

7 children killed

 

Later, the armored vehicle came and shouted at them, "Get back". While the vehicle was moving, a big noise came and my mother and aunt started shouting. Seven children were killed by a mine explosion. Five children from our family and two children from the neighbor. My mother came home and shouted. We asked "what happened?" She said the children were all dead. We buried the bodies of seven children in a single grave without washing them. The soldier who came to the grave asked us, "Did PKK do it?" We answered "The PKK didn't do it, the state did it."

 

Taybet’s  daughter was murdered in the basements of Cizre

 

Noting that one of her  sisters was also murdered in the basements of Cizre, Halime finally says: “My sister Hezni (Sozdar) İnan was massacred in the basements in Cizre. My mother and sister always said that they wanted to lose their lives in an honorable way. We wanted peace and a free life. My mother died in an honorable way. 'Mother' is everything and the symbol of everything. There is no life without a mother. I will support my mother's struggle as long as I live. We will never make this struggle forget. "