Turkey’s Saturday Mothers movement has demanded justice for eight individuals, including three children, who disappeared in custody in the country’s Dargeçit in 1995, some of whose remains were later discovered bearing signs of torture.
Protesters gathered at Galatasaray Square in İstanbul on 2 November for their 1,023rd weekly demonstration, bearing carnations and photographs of their missing relatives. This week’s protest focused on six individuals who disappeared between 29 October and 8 November 1995: Seyhan Doğan, Nedim Akyön, Mehmet Emin Aslan, Abdurrahman Olcay, Abdurrahman Coşkun and Süleyman Seyhan.
‘The policy of impunity in state-perpetrated disappearances creates a legal black hole threatening society as a whole,’ said Newroz Duman, daughter of Nezir Duman, who was among the disappeared. She detailed how heavily armed soldiers and village guards had conducted house raids in Dargeçit in Mardin province, detaining numerous individuals, including four children, two high school students and two women.
The youngest victims were 12-year-old Davut Altunkaynak and 13-year-old Seyhan Doğan. Süleyman Seyhan’s burned body, missing its head, was found in a well on 6 March 1996. It was reported that Staff Sergeant Bilal Batırır, who had provided information about Seyhan’s location, was also disappeared two days after the child’s body was found.
Excavations between 2012-2015 revealed bones of the detainees, bearing severe torture marks. However, on 4 July 2022, the court acquitted all 18 defendants, including former Mardin Gendarmerie Commander Hurşit İmren and other military officials, despite evidence and witness statements implicating them in the disappearances. An appeal to Gaziantep Regional Court of Justice was rejected on 7 May 2024.
At the protest, Kadir Doğan, brother of the disappeared Seyhan Doğan, said, ‘My mother and father used to come here. They can’t make it any more, so I’ve taken over. Today is my mother’s birthday. We’re seeking justice, but there is no justice in this country.’
