Şehriban Aslan - Sema Çağlak 

 

DİYARBAKIR - Layiha Öztürk, who asked about the fate of her husband, Vasif Öztürk, who was disappeared for years, said: "I don't know how many weeks, days and years this is, but I will continue to ask about the fate of my husband even if it has been over a thousand centuries."

 

While no steps have been taken by the state for years regarding the fate of 17,000 people who were killed in 1990, the perpetrators were also released with the trials that stalled although the perpetrators were known. Special operations police officer Ayhan Çarkın, who was one of the perpetrators and who admitted that he personally participated in the killing of four people, confessed what he did while he was arrested and taken to prison: "All help for justice. All files will be opened, all the truths will be revealed. Everybody apply. I am waiting for everyone." Despite this confession, the court released him on the grounds that there was no "concrete evidence" in Ayhan Çarkın’s trial.

 

Layiha is one of those who have been searching for their relatives for years...

 

The relatives of the disappeared came together years ago to ask about the fate of the relatives whose perpetrators were unknown and started the "Relatives of the Missing" protest. The action faced all kinds of obstacles by the state over the years, but the families did not back down in any way despite all the obstacles. One of these families, Layiha Öztürk, is one of those who struggled to learn the fate of her husband Vasıf Öztürk for nearly 10 years.

Layiha's husband was disappeared in 1994 as a result of the operation of the mobile commando unit in rural areas of Kulp. Vasıf Öztürk, Cembeli Tuncer and Efendi Şen, who are in the village of Uzunova (Cumar) in Kulp district, are detained and held overnight in the village school. The next day, while Cembeli Tuncer and Efendi Şen were released, Vasıf Öztürk was taken from the village by a military helicopter with his hands and eyes tied, according to the witnesses' statements.

 

‘There is no place we haven’t searched for’

 

Stating that the gendarmes came to their village and burned three houses and then detained her husband Vasif and her aunt's son Cembeli Tuncer and her nephew Efendi Şen, Layiha stated that her husband was taken to Kulp district center by helicopter, and they could not hear from him again. She said: “They told us that they did not see him everywhere we went, especially at Lice Gendarmerie Station. We waited for nearly six months, we said that he was in prison or elsewhere, and he would come. At the end of six months, we started searching again with Vasif's mother and the baby in my arms. Again, there is no place we have not looked for, but we couldn't find him.”

 

‘There was no limit to what we lived through’

 

She said that while she was searching for her husband, the state told them, "If you blame the PKK, we will open and end the case," but as long as they continue to search, they will not help them in any way. Stating that she has been fighting separately for both her husband and her family for years, Layiha said: “My husband's absence affected us very much. There is no persecution, pressure, and pain that we have not seen. My children were asking me about their fathers every day, but I did not know what to say, I did not even have an answer. Worst of all, when we visited the graves of our relatives on special occasions, my children would ask me about their father's grave. I had no answer either. How would they understand if I told the children that your father is missing? I will say that there is no limit to what we suffered. Nobody should experience what we suffered. Whatever we say is incomplete with what we have experienced. I do not know what week, day or year, but I will continue to ask about the fate of my spouse even after a thousand centuries pass. I will not give up this struggle.”

 

‘We will not take a step back’

 

Emphasizing that she never stopped asking about the fate of her husband despite all her experiences, Layiha said: “We applied to Diyarbakır Provincial Gendarmerie Command and the State Security Court (DGM) of the time, but we did not get any results. In the early days, I could not attend the 'Relatives of Missing' action because of being in Kulp and having small children. Then we moved to the center of Diyarbakır. I have been participating in the protests for nearly 10 years. We faced many difficulties during the time we took an action. A few years ago, we were not allowed to take an action in open space on the pretext of the state of emergency. We had to do it inside for a long time. We started doing it outside last year, but then we continue it on social media due to the epidemic. For years, we have asked the state about the fate of our relatives, but no return has been made to us. The reason is that the state does not come to us with any concrete steps because state does it. We also say from here that as long as we are alive, we will not let go of our cause and losses.  If we are not, the next generation will continue to do so.” She said that they would not step back.