Emine Şenyaşar, a Kurdish woman holding a daily justice for murdered family members in front of the Şanlıurfa (Riha) Courthouse in Turkey, said once again on Sunday that she would not give up her struggle until justice was served.
Şenyaşar, who continued the 833rd daily vigil in front of her home due to poor health, said she has been waiting for over five years for justice for her two sons and her husband, murdered in 2018 by relatives of an MP from Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP), in the Kurdish-majority southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.
“I want those who murdered my children to be punished,” Emine demanded.
Emine is also demanding justice for her other son, Fadıl Şenyaşar, who who was severely injured in the same attack, arrested immediately afterwards and sentenced to a much longer prison sentence than the AKP MP’s brother, who was the main suspect for the murder of three members of Şenyaşar family.
Emine maintains that her son is innocent. “If this court doesn’t set him free, I will move my protest to Ankara,” she said, referring to an upcoming new trial.
The incident unfolded on 14 June 2018 during AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız’s election campaign visit to shopkeepers in the Suruç district of Şanlıurfa. One of Emine’s five sons, Adil Şenyaşar, was killed in a fight between Yıldız’s relatives, bodyguards, and the Şenyaşar brothers at their family shop.
Emine’s two other sons were injured and hospitalised. When Emine and her husband Hacı Esvet heard about the incident and rushed to the hospital, Yıldız’s relatives attacked the family in the hospital.
During this second attack, both Hacı Esvet and his son Celal, who had already been wounded in the initial altercation, were killed.
Fadıl Şenyaşar was the only person arrested immediately after the incident. No members of the Yıldız family were arrested despite warrants being issued for their arrest. In September 2019, the brother of the AKP MP, Enver Yıldız, one of the named suspects, turned himself in.
In April 2021, Fadıl Şenyaşar, who had lost his father and two brothers in the incident and had been detained ever since, was sentenced to 37 years and 9 months, while Enver Yıldız received an 18-year sentence.
The case involving the murders of Şenyaşar family members had been divided into two separate files: one for the shop incident and another for the attacks at the hospital. The sentence Fadıl received was a result of the case related to the shop incident. However, these files were later merged during the case initiated in January concerning the attacks at the hospital. Fadıl Şenyaşar’s verdict, who has been sentenced in the hospital case, will be determined in this merged case.
In the previous hearing, the court ruled to keep Şenyaşar in detention. The next hearing is scheduled for 18 July.
The incident sparked widespread outrage in the region, with many accusing the government and its supporters of complicity in the attack. The case has been mired in allegations of government interference and a lack of progress, despite CCTV footage from the shop clearly showing the attack.
Emine has been diligently holding her vigil since 9 March 2021 with the support of her remaining children. One of her children, Ferit Şenyaşar, was elected as a member of parliament for the Green Left Party in the May elections and has pledged to continue the fight for justice within the halls of the parliament.
