Members of Turkey’s Felicity Party, Labour Party (EMEP) and Alınteri newspaper visited Emine Şenyaşar on the 115th day of her vigil outside the Ministry of Justice in Ankara.
Emine Şenyaşar was supported by her son, Ferit Şenyaşar, who is also the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) MP for Urfa (Riha). Their vigil is seeking justice over the death of Emine’s husband and two of her sons, who were attacked in their family shop in 2018 where one son was killed, the other son and her husband being killed later in a separate attack at Suruç State Hospital. Another of her sons, Fadil Şenyaşar, has been held in solitary confinement following a conviction related to the incident. The bereaved mother started her sit-in in Urfa, where she held her vigil for 805 days, but moved it to Ankara after her son Ferit was elected to parliament in May 2023.
“Where there is no justice, everyone is guilty. Laws exist for justice, not to protect those higher up. Our vigil for justice against the law of those higher up is on its 115th day” the Şenyaşar family said, speaking at the vigil. “A mother has been crying out for 6 years; where is justice, where is the state? Those who rule the country will be defeated by the mothers’ cry.” They unfurled a banner outside the Ministry which read, “Justice for All”.
“We will support Emine’s struggle for justice until her demand is met,” Zarife Çamalan of the Alınteri newspaper said.
Last month, the Turkish government was urged to release archived footage of the Şenyaşar family murders during Emine’s justice vigil.
In March, a Turkish court decided to continue the remand in custody of Fadıl Şenyaşar, continuing his almost six-year solitary confinement following the deadly altercation in 2018.
After Ferit Şenyaşar was elected as an MP in 2023, he pledged to continue his family’s fight for justice in the Turkish parliament. “For 805 days, we have held our vigil outside the Şanlıurfa Courthouse, where justice seems to have vanished. From now on, I will continue our fight for justice in Ankara, and my mother will steadfastly carry on our struggle here in front of the courthouse, until justice prevails,” he said in November.
Meanwhile, Sevinç Çakır, on her 36th day of a sit-in protest also at the Ministry of Justice, unfurled a banner outside the ministry saying, “The true perpatrators of the events of 15 July [2016] events should serve life imprisonment. I want freedom for my son.” Çakır was inspired by Emine Şenyaşar and came to the Ministry of Justice to hold her own vigil following the arrest of her son in the wake of the 15 July 2016 coup attempt.
The background
On 14 June 2018, during a pre-election visit by the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız to a shop in Suruç, Urfa, owned by the Şenyaşar family, a dispute erupted. Esved Şenyaşar and his sons were attacked at their shop, one son, Celal, was killed and the violence spilled over to Suruç State Hospital where further assaults occurred. At the hospital, Esved and his son Adil were killed by individuals reportedly related to the AKP MP and their associates. This incident led to separate trials for the shop and hospital events.
The case has been marred by allegations of evidence tampering, as the hospital’s security footage crucial for the investigation was stolen. Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit have persistently sought justice, staging protests and facing a complex legal battle that remains unresolved.
