Mothers of Convicted Military Students to Stage a Sit-in Protest Every Wednesday

* Photographs and video: Büşra Taşkıran

Click to read the article in Turkish

"Mothers do not have any other concerns than their children. It is the case, no matter where their sons and daughters are. You accept it or not... He is my child and I am after him.

"We entrusted our children to the state. We did not entrust them to Fethullahist Terrorist Organization (FETÖ) or any other organization. Our children were sent to prison in uniforms, don't let them leave it in burial robes. It is our trouble.

The mother who goes after her son, saying "It is our trouble" is Nurdane Türedi. Taha Yasin Türedi, the son of Nurdane Türedi, is currently held in Silivri Prison in the outskirts of İstanbul.

"I am not troubled only about my own son Taha Furkan Çetinkaya. I have 259 children in Silivri Prison. Three of them are girls. When they imprisoned us, our children came to my mind. They put our children somewhere similar".

The one who says "We do not fear anyone. We will go all lengths for our children" is Melek Çetinkaya. His son is in Silivri Prison as well.

Both mothers were at Sakarya Street in Ankara on September 25.

They are the families of some of the 259 people who were military students when the junta structure inside the Turkish Armed Forces (TAF) attempted to stage a coup on July 15, 2016 and have been given life sentence.

'Mothers were covered in wounds and bruises'

Nurdane Türedi, one of the mothers, was not detained yesterday, but she was battered during the police intervention. Türedi says:

"We are mothers. No matter where they go, the sons and daughters of mothers are still their sons and daughters.

"We were going to sit quietly at Sakarya Street, wearing clothes with pictures of our children. We were going to tell the passers-by about it. We will tell them about our trouble. But, they did not let us.

"We are desperate people. 30-40 police officers... They surrounded us in a minute. They attacked in an instant. Our mothers, the elderly... Their bodies were covered in wounds and bruises. They detained the mothers in that condition. They had just been released the other night. They are treating us disrespectfully. They also held us in custody for a long time this time.

"In previous detentions, they released us after giving us a fine of 320 lira. This time, it did not happen. They must be trying to frighten us.

'We will be on the street every Wednesday'

"From now on, we will sit on Wednesdays. If our mothers come.

"We talked to authorities such as President Erdoğan and Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu to tell them about our trouble. We told them our trouble. We told them, 'Our children went in there in uniforms, don't let them leave it in burial robes'. They did not hear us, they did not even listen to us.

'Don't accept it all you want, I am after my child'

"We were not expecting such an attack, we were really surprised.

"All mothers are the same. Mothers do not have any other concerns than their children. It is what motherhood is about, no matter where their sons and daughters are. Accept it or not... He is my child and I am after him."

Taken into custody in the police attack at Sakarya Street, mother Melek Çetinkaya also says the following:

"I left home at around 10 a.m. I was going to go to Sakarya Street. While I was underway, they detained me and the ones who were with me. After keeping us at the police station for a couple of hours, they released us. And I immediately went to Sakarya Street. But, they attacked us there as well.

"Normally, they would keep us for a few hours, then release us. They did not let us go, they put us in a custodial prison. Mothers passed out there. Because we remembered our children.

"Our child was going to be a junior grade lieutenant, we were waiting for him with this dream. But, our child, who would be a lieutenant, is now in prison. If something like that could happen to children in the hands of the state, who knows what happens to children outside?

"When I go to Silivri Prison to visit my child, I tell him about what happens at Sakarya Street. He tells me, 'Don't put yourself in danger'. They are worried about us as well."

'We will meet Saturday Mothers'

Indicating that they will meet the Saturday Mothers, who have long been demanding justice for their enforced disappeared children, in the upcoming weeks, Çetinkaya says that "when they expressed their wish to meet the mothers staging a sit-in protests in front of HDP Diyarbakır building for their children, they were told that 'the mothers did not want to meet them'." (EMK/SD)