Shop owner Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar and two of his sons, Adil and Celal, lost their lives as a result of an armed attack by relatives of the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP’s) Urfa deputy, İbrahim Halil Yıldız. The attack took place in the Suruç district of Urfa on 14 June 2018, just before the local elections in Turkey, while deputy İbrahim Halil Yıldız and those accompanying him were visiting shops in Suruç as part of their election campaign. A dispute arose after the shop owner, Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar, asked them to leave his shop.
Mehmet Şah Yıldız from the family of the AKP deputy also lost his life during the incident and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan called Şenyaşar’s family ‘terrorists’.
Fadıl Şenyaşar, another son of the Şenyaşar family, was detained by the police for killing Mehmet Şah Yıldız even before his medical treatment for injuries sustained in the attack had been completed. He has been in prison since and his next court hearing will be on 2 October.
The Şenyaşar family’s attorney, Gökhan Dayık, claims that the criminal charge against him has not been prepared fairly and the courts are protecting the Yıldız family.
Mother Emine Şenyaşar and her sons Ferit and Mehmet are traveling to Ankara to demand justice. They will be visiting the human rights organisations, non-governmental organisations and officials to make their voices heard.
