The Saturday Mothers have called for a permanent peace and democratic reforms in Turkey to address the plight of missing persons like Bahri Kağanaslan, who disappeared in 1993. As they gathered for their 1,022nd weekly vigil on 26 October in Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square, the group urged Turkish authorities to replace impunity with justice, warning that the ongoing use of violence in the Kurdish conflict threatens democracy and human rights.
Meanwhile, in İzmir, the Human Rights Association (İHD) and relatives of missing persons held a similar event to demand justice for Cemil Kırbayır, a student who disappeared after being detained during the 1980 military coup. Activists gathered in Konak, displaying banners reading “Where are the missing?” and “Hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Speaking on behalf of the Saturday Mothers in Istanbul, Oya Ersoy of İHD highlighted Kağanaslan’s case, asserting it symbolises broader injustices stemming from Turkey’s handling of the Kurdish issue. “The violence-centred approach distances Turkey from democracy, rule of law, peace, and prosperity,” Ersoy stated. She stressed that resolving the Kurdish issue as a matter of human rights and democracy is essential for the nation’s future. “We must now say louder than ever that democratic reform cannot ignore the Kurdish issue,” she added.
Kağanaslan was reportedly taken from his village near Diyarbakır (Amed) on 29 October 1993, under suspicious circumstances involving unidentified individuals posing as militants. Despite his family’s appeals to authorities, Kağanaslan’s whereabouts remain unknown, with allegations that security officials threatened his family with further disappearances unless they complied with the state’s village guard programme.
In İzmir, İHD representative Caner Canlı recounted the case of Cemil Kırbayır, recalling how witnesses testified to his death under torture following his detention in 1980. “The Kırbayır family began their fight for justice decades ago, and still, like so many others, they await answers,” Canlı said, reminding the crowd that Kırbayır’s death had been confirmed by a parliamentary investigation.
In Istanbul, Ersoy called for an end to the decades-long impunity in cases like Kağanaslan’s and appealed for “an effective investigation” into his disappearance. “For 30 years, impunity has persisted. Let the fate of Bahri Kağanaslan and all the missing be properly investigated, and those responsible prosecuted,” she said, vowing that families would continue to demand justice until the Turkish state abides by universal legal norms.
