Declared Homosexual Missing for 87 Days

Umut Göktuğ Söyler, a declared homosexual who has been briefly abducted by his own father and uncle for his sexual orientation, is missing for 87 days.  Even though an Ankara court recently sentenced Söyler's father and uncles - an active duty colonel and police officer respectively - to 3 days of prison for violating a restriction order, the whereabouts of Söyler remains unknown to this day.  "The law system considered that Söyler was in 'good hands' since he was abducted by his own family. The law enforcement insisted on not applying the restraint order and it expired," Ahmet Toköz, Söyler's lawyer, told bianet.  He also reminded Söyler's family remarks on how they criticized being punished for "having their child with them".

What happened?

Umut Göktuğ Söyler, a declared gay and member of Pembe Hayat LGBTT organization,  lived peacefully together with his boyfriend Ramazan Kalkan until his family found out and started to threaten them.   On February 3 Söyler filed a complaint to a prosecutor, which was addressed with restraint order and police protection. Söyler claimed that his father and uncle attempted to kill him by putting a gun on his temple. His complaint did not yield any response from authorities, he said.  On February 23 a group of armed men including Söyler's father and uncles raided his apartment and abducted him - the incident was recorded by a survellience camera.  In early March Söyler's family applied to the court for the reassessment of their son's adulthood rights - a case that is only possible for the "mentally disabled, troubled and with a bad conduct". Interior Minister Muammer Güler telephoned Pembe Hayat LGBTT organization, saying that they were working closely to resolve the abduction issue.  February 28 marked the last day that Söyler was seen leaving from a hospital, escorted by his father and mother.  Toköz claimed that his Söyler's father called him that day and said that he was "going to leave him after he got a few things on the way".  On March 18 Söyler alledegly called Toköz from a telephone box in Taşova, Samsun and asked him to "save" him. (ÇT/BM)