Teacher Who Died in Custody Buried in Konya

Click to read the article in Kurdish / Turkish

The body of teacher Gökhan Açıkkolu, who died in custodial prison on the 13th day of his detention due to the July 15 coup attempt probe has been buried in Konya province.

Açıkkolu’s father, Ayhan Açıkkolu said they appointed the “traitors cemetery” for his burial.

“Even his testimony hadn’t been received, there was no judgement passed. He was a proud person. Maybe he couldn’t take it and had a heart attack. He had diabetes.

“It is like a banana republic. We cannot seek our rights. He was labelled as traitor for nothing, we didn’t harm or hurt anyone. We tried to reach the Prime Minister and the President, but nothing worked”.

No funeral vehicle was given to the family. They received the body on August 7 by  their own means and brought it to his wife’s hometown in Konya province.

No imam came because of the declaration made by the Presidency of Religious Affairs that no funeral proceedings will be carried out for those who participated in the coup attempt. A neighborhood resident performed the funeral prayer.

Ümraniye Atatürk Technical and Industrial Vocational School teacher Gökhan Açıkkolu was taken into custody on July 3. Açıkkolu was 42 years old and he lost his life on his  13th day in custodial prison. (BK/HK/TK)