The Turkish police did not allow a Kurdish family to hold their vigil in their usual spot in front of a courthouse in the south-eastern province of Şanlıurfa and blocked their entry on Friday.
The police instead showed Emine Şenyaşar to another spot for the vigil, which she and her son Ferit have been continuing for four years, seeking justice for their family despite being under constant intimidation through arrests and lawsuits.
Şenyaşar protested with cries in Kurdish and tried to light herself on fire. People around the courthouse saw the incident happening and stopped her before she harmed herself.
Emine Şenyaşar lost her husband and two of her sons in a vicious attack by people connected to the Justice and Development Party (AKP) MP Halil Yıldız in June 2018. Her husband and one of her sons were then killed while in hospital receiving treatment for injuries they sustained in the initial attack. One of Şenyaşar’s two remaining sons was later sentenced to 37 years in prison for his part in the events in which he defended his family.
Following tensions with the police on Friday, the Şenyaşar family went in front of the courthouse again on Saturday, this time accompanied by the lawmakers and the senior executives of the pro-Kurdish Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP).
“Justice has been put under blockade by the police. The family is holding vigils for almost 600 days but they are still under blockade,” said HDP spokesperson Ebru Günay.
“We will struggle till justice comes,” she said. “We have never left the family alone and we never will.”