Emine and Ferit Şenyaşar marched to Turkey’s Justice Ministry on Thursday, day 16 of moving their years-long fight for justice to the Turkish capital, Mezopotamya Agency reported.
Emine Şenyaşar was in a wheelchair due to a knee injury, but wanted to continue the vigil for her husband and two sons who were killed in an altercation involving former ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız in 2018.
Ferit Şenyaşar, who was elected to parliament in May from the Green Left Party (YSP), said the family took their vigil to Ankara, after years of unfruitful protest in the southeastern Şanlıurfa province, where son Fadıl Şenyaşar faced trial and is currently imprisoned.
The family met with Deputy Justice Minister Ramazan Can, but could not reach a solution, the MP said. Their daily march from Parliament to the ministry will continue, he added.
A police officer at the ministry accused the family of “posing for social media shares” as they were kept waiting at the gates. After two hours of waiting, the family made another statement to the press and went back to the parliament.
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan “put us in the grave before we died”, Emine Şenyaşar said, accusing the Turkish president of protecting his former MP whose bodyguards killed husband Hacı Şenyaşar and sons Adil and Celal Şenyaşar.
Yıldız was visiting shopkeepers as part of his campaign for elections in June 2018, when he got into an argument at the Şenyaşars’ shop in Şanlıurfa’s Suruç district. Three members of the Şenyaşar family were hospitalised with gunshots, and were attacked again in the emergency room. All three lost their lives in the second attack.
Yıldız’s brother also lost his life during the shooting at the shop. Son Fadıl Şenyaşar was arrested for killing Mehmet Şah Yıldız, and later sentenced to 37 years. He has been behind bars since.
Meanwhile, only one person was convicted over the death of the three Şenyaşars. MP Yıldız’s relative Enver Yıldız was sentenced to 18 years in prison, enjoying a reduced sentence due to what the court called “unjust provocation”.
Emine Şenyaşar started her vigil after Fadıl Şenyaşar’s arrest, and continues her protest as her son remains behind bars despite his sentence not being finalised.
“If there was any justice people wouldn’t get beheaded inside hospitals,” Emine Şenyaşar said at Thursday’s vigil, condemning the lack of adequate investigation on the matter. “They painted the walls the same night, and released those who committed the massacre.”
Not all of the available security cameras were inspected as part of the investigation, the grieving mother said. “Why don’t you release them? Do it, and if my son is still guilty, let him stay behind bars. Put me with him too, even. But enough is enough,” she said.
