Gökhan Güneş missing for five days: ‘Why is the state silent?’

* News/Photo: Mezopotamya Agency (MA)

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Allegedly abducted by the police in Başakşehir district in İstanbul on January 20, 23-year-old Gökhan Güneş's family and friends made a statement in front of İstanbul Courthouse today (January 25). The statement was also attended by Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MP Musa Piroğlu.

While the banner of the group read, "Gökhan Güneş was abducted by the state forces on January 20," the group chanted the slogans, "Release Gökhan Güneş" and "Where is Gökhan Güneş?"

Addressing the reporters at the protest, mother Nazife Güneş said that the state knew where her son was and added:

"Where is Gökhan? Where did they take him? The place where he was taken is known. By our own means, we found the footage of the place where he was abducted from the shopkeepers. But the state is still silent."

Noting that they had searched everywhere for Güneş, his mother Nazife Güneş said that "the state could find him if it wanted."

"Shall they tell me where my child is. I just need to know that he is alive. I cannot take it, give me my son. I only want my son."

Piroğlu: Why is the state silent?

HDP's Musa Piroğlu also stated that the state was responsible for the failure to find an abducted person. Asking the reason why the state was silent about the fate and whereabouts of Gökhan Güneş, Piroğlu said:

"This silence shows that the state is also behind this. We know what enforced disappearance is; we know what it means. There are records about Gökhan. He was kidnapped by force.

"We know that the state has more detailed records. The state is still silent. To us, the one to be addressed is the state.

"It is the state that needs to give us Gökhan back. We want Gökhan. It is the responsibility of the opposition forces to find Gökhan. The government has been establishing an empire of fear with incidents of abduction. We will not stay silent until Gökhan is given back to us." (RT/SD)