The Saturday Mothers, a group of families seeking answers about loved ones abducted by Turkish state forces, gathered in İstanbul’s Beyoğlu district on 27 May to mark 30 years of their relentless struggle for truth and justice. Held at the Bilim Beyoğlu hall, the panel united grieving relatives, academics and legal experts to confront Turkey’s legacy of enforced disappearances—cases where individuals were taken by state actors and never seen again—amplifying their demand for accountability and an end to systemic impunity.
The Saturday Mothers’ movement began in 1995 after the disappearance of Hasan Ocak, a leftist activist detained during violent unrest in İstanbul’s Gazi Mahallesi, a neighbourhood predominantly inhabited by Alevis, a religious and cultural minority in Turkey, often facing discrimination. His tortured body, found two months later in a cemetery for the unidentified, sparked his mother Emine and others to launch silent sit-ins at Galatasaray Square, inspired by Argentina’s Plaza de Mayo Mothers, who protested disappearances during the 1976–1983 military dictatorship.
Named Saturday Mothers for the many mothers leading the charge, the group has endured decades of state repression, including a violent 2018 crackdown at their 700th vigil, when police used tear gas and detained dozens, including elderly relatives.
Dr Hülya Dinçer, a legal scholar, opened the panel by decrying the “wall of impunity” erected by legal time limitations, which she described as a deliberate tactic to shield perpetrators. “Time limitations are not just technical; they block the truth and betray justice,” she said, citing the case of Cemil Kırbayır, whose 1980 disappearance was confirmed by a 2011 parliamentary report as a state-sanctioned killing, yet closed in 2022 due to expired time limits. She argued that international law, backed by the European Court of Human Rights, recognises enforced disappearances as crimes against humanity, exempt from such limits, yet Turkey persists in evading accountability.
Associate Professor Berke Özenç highlighted the erosion of the right to assemble, a cornerstone of democratic participation, noting that Galatasaray Square has become a global symbol of resistance. “Turkey’s laws promise freedom of assembly, but in practice, 99.9% of İstanbul’s public spaces are banned for protests,” he said. He pointed to Constitutional Court rulings in 2021 that declared the 2018 ban unlawful, yet restrictions persist, reflecting a broader decay of Turkey’s rule of law.
Professor Mithat Sancar framed the struggle within transitional justice, essential for moving from conflict to democracy. “Without facing the truth, there can be no justice, and without justice, no lasting peace,” he said. He linked the disproportionate targeting of Kurds, like many of the disappeared, to systemic discrimination, noting that denying families the right to mourn reinforces unequal citizenship. Drawing on global examples like South Africa’s truth commissions, he called for mechanisms to acknowledge past atrocities and transform the structures enabling them.
İkbal Eren, whose brother Hayrettin vanished in 1980, spoke of the enduring pain of families denied closure. “Galatasaray Square is our meeting place with our loved ones; it’s our only grave,” she said, rejecting state attempts to relocate their vigils. She insisted that democracy in Turkey hinges on confronting these crimes, vowing, “We will never give up until the state faces its darkness and the guilty are punished.”
Timeline of Turkey’s longest-running civil disobedience movement
•27 May 1995: Saturday Mothers begin weekly silent sit-ins at Galatasaray Square, İstanbul.
•August 1998–March 1999: Police interventions escalate, with weekly detentions and violence against the group. After their 200th vigil, extreme repression forces a suspension of actions on 13 March 1999.
•31 January 2009: The movement resumes sit-ins at Galatasaray Square, fuelled by hopes of justice during the Ergenekon trials, which targeted alleged deep-state actors linked to disappearances.
•February 2011: Then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan meets Saturday Mothers’ representatives at his Dolmabahçe office, promising action. This leads to the formation of a Human Rights Inquiry Commission sub-committee in Turkish parliament to investigate disappearances. The committee’s 2011 report on Cemil Kırbayır, disappeared in 1980, confirms his death by torture in custody, a rare state acknowledgment, but no prosecutions follow.
•25 August 2018: The 700th vigil is banned by the Beyoğlu Governorate under Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu, who accuses the group of being exploited by “terrorist organisations”. Police use tear gas, plastic bullets, and detain 46 people, including elderly mothers like Emine Ocak. The group is barred from Galatasaray Square, forced to gather outside the İstanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD). This marks a significant escalation of state restrictions on their right to assembly.
•18 March 2021: Turkey’s Constitutional Court (AYM) rules that the 2018 police intervention at the 700th vigil violated the right to hold meetings and demonstration marches under Article 34 of the Constitution. The decision affirms the Saturday Mothers’ right to peaceful assembly, but state restrictions persist, with ongoing police barriers at Galatasaray Square.
•July 2021: The AYM issues another ruling in the case of Mahir Engin Çelik and Sakine Esen Yılmaz (no. 2017/25695), finding a violation of the right to hold meetings and demonstration marches due to state restrictions on Saturday Mothers’ protests, reinforcing their legal right to assemble. Despite these rulings, practical access to Galatasaray Square remains limited, with small groups allowed only brief statements behind barriers.
•2022: The case of Cemil Kırbayır is closed due to the statute of limitations, exemplifying the systemic use of time limitations to block justice, as highlighted by the Saturday Mothers.
•11 November 2023: After over five years of bans, the 973rd vigil sees a partial easing of restrictions following Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya’s acknowledgment of the group’s “victimhood”. A small group of 10 is allowed to make a brief statement at Galatasaray Square, throwing carnations over police barriers, but full access remains denied, reflecting ongoing state control over public spaces.
•25 May 2024: The Saturday Mothers mark their 1000th weekly vigil, a milestone recognised as Turkey’s longest-running civil disobedience movement.
