content tagged with 1 May 1977 The Voices of Those Who Lost Their Loved Ones

Antranik Yontan spoke of how his relative, Diran Nigiz, who he called his ‘abi’, or big brother, had a limp and was crushed in the panic, that he had a good sense of humour, and that he had migrated from Derik to Istanbul. There are no photographs of Diran.

Cihat Açıkalın tells us about how his cousin, Sibel Açıkalın, was actively engaged in the struggle for student and labor rights and that she was the one who fostered in him his love of reading. "It still makes our hearts bleed to know that, despite the many years that have passed, the perpetrators have not been held accountable for their crimes," he says.

Mustafa Elmas's wife, Selme Elmas, says "We were in love when we got married, very much in love." She then adds, "He said he was going out to buy a paper, but he never came back." Journalist Faruk Eren wrote about his middle-school teacher in a book about the political atmosphere of the 1970s.

Mürtezim Oltulu's nephews, Recep Oltulu and Yüksel Oltulu, spoke of how, after completing primary school, their uncle followed his older brother to Halkalı in Istanbul, and of how they struggled to find the 4000 lira needed to claim his body. There are no photographs of Mürtezim Oltulu.

Workers from the Uzel factory and union leaders Mehmet Ali Kılıç and Rıza Durak tell us about their friend Ziya, how fearless he was, and how they weren't able to attend his funeral. Murat Tokmak had also given information about the three workers from the Uzel factory who lost their lives in an interview with the newspaper Radikal.

Şükrü Genç tells us that his father died on his way home from work after his shift at the Maksim Gazinosu nightclub, that he had moved to Istanbul to find work, and how, as they were claiming his body to take back to their village, they were given the belongings of a child.

Hamdi Toka’s nephew and cousin spoke of how he died while selling sandwiches in Taksim, of the family’s poverty, of how he left the village of Başsökü in Gerze to find work and now lies in the village cemetery.

Hasan Yıldırım’s friend from Uzel Factory spoke of how Hasan, whom he describes as a good person, was studying at university while also working at the factory, and how his workmates tried to comfort him after he was shot right beside them.

Zehra Şahin talks about her friend, Atilla Özbelen, with whom she worked at the Classroom Tools Manufacturing Centre, about how he was at work, his union activities, and how they went together from Ankara to the First of May rally in Istanbul.

Fahrettin Arı talks about his brother, Nazmi Arı, about the failure to bring those responsible for his death to justice, and about how a village school was named after him but the name was later removed.

Author Nedim Gürsel talks of how Ercüment Gürkut, a friend from Galatasaray High School, was interested in football and poetry, was funny and intelligent, was very interested in cinema and of how they planned to carry out a project together.

The nephew of Hüseyin Kırkın, a Laborer at the student dormitory "Ankara Site", talks about what a fearless person his uncle was, how he could not tolerate injustice, and how upset he got when he was told not to go to the First of May.