The Saturday Mothers, a group who have been meeting in Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square for 946 weeks to demand justice for their disappeared loved ones, made the decision to not attend the gathering in person this week, just ahead of the country’s elections, but instead declared their demands from the upcoming new government online.
In a statement read by Ayşe Tepe, the sister of a journalist who disappeared in detention, the group explained that the decision was made to avoid detention, which could have jeopardised their right to vote in the elections.
In addition to calling for an end to the politics of polarisation and authoritarianism, they listed several urgent demands for the new Turkish government, including the signing and implementation of the UN Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the removal of obstacles to freedom of assembly, and the end of bans on gatherings in Galatasaray and Taksim Square. The group also called for legal arrangements to regulate, prevent, and punish the act of disappearance in custody as a crime against humanity, promising to continue their struggle until justice is served.
