Worldwide solidarity with Saturday Mothers on the 500th week

TURKEY | 24-10-2014 | Sixteen years ago, on 28 May 1995, a group of mostly women from different age groups met in Galatasaray Square, in the central Taksim area of Istanbul and sat down in front of the Galatasaray School. They were holding pictures of mostly men, from different age groups. On the picture the name of the man and a word which was to become known also to foreigners, kayip, disappeared. The Saturday Mothers, as they then called themselves because of their meeting in Galatasaray (and later in many other squares) square every Saturday, started their weekly vigil 19 years ago. They have been harassed, attacked, injured, beaten, arrested. And yet they are in the squares every Saturday to claim justice for their disappeared relatives.

The long walk by the Saturday Mothers in search for justice continues ever since. The relatives of the disappeared, who gather each Saturday at Galatasaray Square in Beyoğlu, will come together for the 500th time tomorrow as thousands of families have yet to be answered by the Turkish state for 19 years now.

Families and relatives of the disappeared worldwide will also be staging demos in solidarity with the Saturday Mothers on the 500th week of their protest for truth and justice on unsolved political murders in North Kurdistan and Turkey.

Saturday Mothers, inspired by Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo seeking their beloved ones disappeared by the junta regime in Argentina between 1976 and 1983, have numerous times been subjected to repression and taken into custody by security forces. After being forced to discontinue their protest for some time due to the increasing repression and the brutal intervention of police on 13 March 1999, families of the disappeared restarted to gather on 31 March 2009.

Families who will be gathering for the 500th time this week have been demanding the disclosure of the aftermath of the disappeared recorded in state archieves, trial of the perpetrators, amendment of the Turkish Penal Code in such a way that will not allow the prescription of disappearances within the scope of crime against humanity, Turkey’s signing the United Nations International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Tens of thousands are expected to participate tomorrow’s demo as it will mark the 500th week, including artists, authors and Scholars For Peace, a group of academicians dedicated to the resolution of Turkey’s Kurdish problem.

The 500th week for justice will also be suported by relatives of the disappeared worlwide who will also stage concurrent demos in a number of countries in solidarity with their demand for justice. Rallies are being organised by committees formed by non-govermental organizations in solidarity with Saturday Mothers.

The rally in the German city of Cologne, which has been organized by Aysel Ocak, sister of Hasan Ocak, a victim of forced disappearances, will take place in front of the historical Dom Church at 12:00 tomorrow.

Aysel Ocak said their aim was to help the voice of Saturday Mothers be heard by the world, adding; “These people have gathered for 500 weeks now in search of justice for their beloved ones. We, as relatives of the disappeared in Europe and other territories across the world will also be gathering to stand by Saturday Mothers and the demands they highlight. This scream raised in Istanbul for 19 years must now be heard by the international community.”

Ocak said the AKP government ruling Turkey for 12 years now has taken the country back to the dark times of 90’s during the most recent Kobanê protests during which pro-Hezbollah gangs -responsible for executions and forced disappearances-didn’t hesitate to pour out into the streets. “This is why it is important to support Saturday Mothers now in order to prevent further probable deaths and disappearances”, she underlined.

Also giving information about the case on her brother Hasan Ocak, Aysel Ocak said they would also face prescription if no developments take place by 21 March 2015.

The places and times of rallies to take place worldwide in solidarity with Saturday Mothers tomorrow are as follows;

GERMANY

In front of the Dom Church in Cologne, at 12:00

In front of the Weltzeituhr in Alexanderplatz in Berlin, at 12:00

In front of Altona Mercado in Hamburg, at 12:00

At Schlosplatz in Stuttgart, at 16:00

SWITZERLAND

In front of the train station in Bern, at 11:00

In front of the Jakob Church in Zurich, at 11:00

AUSTRIA

In front of the Turkish Embassy in Vienna, at 11:00

At Martin Lutherplatz in Linz, at 11:00

CANADA

In front of the Turkish Embassy in Toronto, at 11:00

ENGLAND

At the Trafalgar Square in London, at 14:00

 

(ANF)