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The memories and pains of the losses in the self-governance resistance in Turkey have not been forgotten. Speaking to Jin News, Sabiha Yanar, the mother of a killed son whose body has not been found for six years, said, “Even if they find my son’s body one day I don’t want them to send it to me in a plastic bag like they did to another mother, I won’t be able to stand it.”
Self-government was declared by the Democratic Society Assembly in Yüksekova (Gever) district of Turkey’s Kurdish-majority province of Hakkari (Colemerg) on 13 March 2015.
As the clashes between the YPS (Civil Protection Units) and state armed forces continued, hundreds of houses were demolished in Yüksekova, and thousands of citizens had to leave their lands.
During the ‘self-government/self-governance’ resistance that lasted for 79 days, Kurdish people not only lost their homes and belongings, but also their children, their sons and their daughters.
Thousands of young people and women formed a civil self-defence system against the attacks targeting their homes and lives. Dozens of young people gathered after intense clashes and said “stop” the attacks by establishing the YPS. 18 year old Zeydan Yanar was one of those civillian Kurdish youth, who tried to defend his home by his all means.
Although 6 years have passed since the declaration of self-governance the the body of Zeydan Yanar has not still been found just like many others.
‘We couldn’t find his body’
Zeydan’s mother Sabiha Yanar stated that her son preferred to stay in Yüksekova to part of the self-defense network of his town. ”He had joined the YPS, at that time we had no idea he joined the self-defense, he did not tell us. Now 6 years have passed, but we still have not been able to find his body,” she said.
Mother Sabiha said that she heard the news that Zeydan lost his life on the fourth day of the curfew. ”After the news I heard that Zeydan was martyred, we contacted the residents of Yüksekova, we called everybody we could contact, but here I am, still looking for my son after six years,” she said.
‘I didn’t notice my house was burned down’
After the bans were lifted, the Yanar family went straight back to Yüksekova. “My house was burned down, but I did not notice that my house was burned down as I was just concentrating on looking for my son,” said mother Yanar.
Mother Yanar had many torubles finding the truth about the whereabouts of her son as they were mislead and misinformed many times during their countless attempts to find him. ‘I went to Erzurum to find my son’s body, because they informed us that the deceased were taken there, but I couldn’t find any trace of my son there as well,” she said.
“I searched through the morgues, I wanted to give my DNA, but the prosecutor didn’t allow it, The authorities always told me, ‘We will call you if we get any news’. But there is still no information”
‘I just want to know if he is dead or alive’
Mother Yanar believes somewhere in her heart that her son “will come one day. I’m waiting. My only wish is that if they shot my son dead, they should say this to my face. I just want to know if my son is dead or alive. Even if they find my son’s body one day I don’t want them to send it to me in a plastic bag like they did to another mother, I won’t be able to stand it.”
The painful mother’s final words were, “All I want is to organise a proper funeral for my son. I know he is somehwere under these torned down buildings, but just don’t know exactly under which rocks his body lies.”
