Asiye Elçiçek, the grieving mother of slain Kurdish guerrilla Menfiyat Elçiçek, spoke to Mezopotamya Agency about her experience after the delayed return of her daughter’s remains in a cardboard box, expressing frustration and questioning the reasons behind the prolonged wait.
🔶Asiye Elçiçek shares her anguish after receiving her daughter Menfiyat's remains in a cardboard box, five years after her death. Read about their story, shedding light on the challenges faced by Kurdish families.#MenfiyatElcicek | #KurdishFightershttps://t.co/TNaKOxJzTy pic.twitter.com/iS1Vk9rvxs
— MedyaNews (@1MedyaNews) December 3, 2023
When news of her daughter’s death in 2018 surfaced, the mother embarked on a journey to Şırnak. Upon providing a blood sample, she was first told that the DNA didn’t match.
Subsequently, five years after her daughter’s death, the Hakkari Security Directorate reached out, revealing that Menfiyat’s body was at the Istanbul Forensic Medicine Institution. The mother was instructed to retrieve her daughter’s remains.
All she received were her daughter’s bones, enclosed in a cardboard box resembling a coffin. Determined to give her a dignified farewell, the grieving mother crafted a proper coffin, draped her daughter in a shroud, and brought her back home.
The lingering questions haunt the grieving mother: “Why weren’t the bodies of our children given to us in the same year? Why was it delayed until five years later, when our wound was still fresh? Why were we made to wait for so long?”
After Elçiçek’s body was taken to the family’s hometown in Şırnak (Şirnex), a funeral was held in a cemetery surrounded by riot police. Only close family were allowed to attend, in violation of Kurdish traditions.
“Our pain is immense,” said Asiye Elçiçek. “For years, I wished I could have witnessed my daughter’s funeral.”
On Sunday, a march was organised for Menfiyat Elçiçek in her hometown, with the participation of hundreds of people. Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (HEDEP) MPs Newroz Uysal Aslan and Mehmet Zeki İrmez were among the participants. After the march reached the family house, the MPs visited the family.
This is not the first time a Kurdish family has received the remains of their loved ones in makeshift containers.
The remains of Hakan Arslan, who was killed during the curfew and military operations in December 2015 in Diyarbakır’s (Amed) Sur district, were delivered to his father in a plastic bag seven years later.
The remains of Kurdish fighter, Sitî Karatay, killed in clashes with Turkish forces in 2016 in Turkey’s Kurdish-majority district of Şemdinli (Şemzînan) were handed over to her mother in a box.
The remains of Yılmaz Uzun, who lost his life in a Turkish airstrike in Siirt (Sêrt) in 2020 along with five other Kurdish guerrillas, were also delivered to his family in a box three years after his death.
