Suruç Families Initiative: We won’t give up our search for justice and truth

The Suruç Families Initiative held a press conference on Halitağa Street in Kadıköy to mark the 76th month since the Suruç Massacre.

The slogan “Justice for Suruç, justice for all” was frequently chanted during the action, where a banner saying “Let our hearts beat for justice” was laid on the ground.

The press statement was supported by the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP) co-chair Şahin Tümüklü, as well as many youth organization members.

The father of Çağdaş Aydın who lost his life in Suruç, Feti Aydın, reminded that “33 dream travellers fell as martyrs as a result of the suicide bomb attack in Suruç 76 months ago. Since the day of the massacre, we have been fighting for justice and truth. We want those responsible to be punished.”

Stating that the court board is far from providing justice, Aydın said that the only person sentenced is the only defendant, Yakup Şahin, and drew attention to the fact that no action was taken against the other perpetrators, against whom criminal complaints were made dozens of times.

Aydın said: “Crime scene footage, which should have been placed in the file right after the explosion, has not been included in the file for 6 years. Süleyman Aggal, who is said to have been arrested on the grounds that he supplied the bombs used in the Suruç massacre, is on trial for a different case.”

Aydın added: “We have been repeating the shortcomings in this massacre case for 6 years. A police officer was fined on the grounds of negligence in the massacre. They gave the same punishment to two other police officers and it was almost a reward. This is how the gas bombs that were thrown on the wounded just after the massacre that day were covered.”

‘We won’t not give up’

Aydın said that “many of our events have been banned. Those who wanted to commemorate our ‘33 dream travellers’ were detained; lawsuits were filed against them. But we did not give up on our demand for justice and truth. The comrades of our 33 ‘dream travellers’ continue to be subjected to harassment and detention. Berfin Polat, a 17-year-old high school student whose arm was broken as a result of police torture in the commemoration of the 6th anniversary of the Suruç massacre, was put in prison just a few days ago. We won’t give up.”

After the statement, a 3-minute silent sit-in was held for those who lost their lives in Suruç.

Background

On 20 July 2015, following the appeal by the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), 300 young people gathered at the Amara Cultural Center to hold a press conference prior to their departure for Kobanê.

The planned trip to Kobanê was meant to be an act of solidarity. The young people wanted to bring toys and humanitarian aid to the city destroyed by the ISIS. Then an ISIS member blew himself up killing 33 people and wounding dozens of others.