Police attack Şenyaşar family in front of the courthouse in Urfa

Emine Şenyaşar and her son Ferit Şenyaşar have been protesting for justice in front of the entrance of the courthouse in Urfa for 358 days. Relatives and bodyguards of AKP MP Ibrahim Halil Yıldız had murdered Emine Şenyaşar’s husband and two of her sons on 14 June 2018. Instead of the perpetrators, one of her sons is in custody since.

The Şenyaşar family’s vigil has repeatedly been the target of repression, criminalisation and attacks. On Tuesday, the police again tried to prevent the vigil and classified the erection of posters as a “violation of the law of assembly”. In response to police threats, Emine Şenyaşar replied: “My son is in prison. Why don’t you throw us in jail too?”

The family said that they protested in front of the entrance of the Antep District Court and the Criminal Court on Monday and there were no problems. While they announced that they would continue the action in Urfa, the police replied in a threatening tone, “Are you leaving or not?”. Ferit Şenyaşar stated in the face of the police threats, “If three people from their family had been murdered, would they just sit at home?”

As the family continued their action, the police tried to remove everyone who was in the courtyard of the courthouse from the area without giving any reason. Emine Şenyaşar then protested with Kurdish lament songs.

A journalist from the Mezopotamya news agency who was present was prevented from documenting the situation. The police stated that any recordings were forbidden. Furthermore, it was not allowed to be on the court premises without permission. The police contacted the public prosecutor’s office to obtain an official “decision” to evacuate the area. However, the Şenyaşar family continues its protest.

The massacre of the Şenyaşar family

Ten days before the parliamentary election on 24 June 2018, AKP MP Ibrahim Halil Yıldız, accompanied by relatives and bodyguards, visited the Şenyaşar family farm in Suruç. After a verbal argument, Yıldız’s bodyguards opened fire. Mehmet, Celal and Adil Şenyaşar were taken to hospital with gunshot wounds, where two of them were ultimately murdered. The coroner’s inquest found bullet wounds from at least six firearms of different calibres in Celal Şenyaşar’s autopsy. In Adil Şenyaşar’s case, cuts and stab wounds were found on 14 parts of the body, as well as blows from hard objects. The report states that Adil had been subjected to “extreme violence”. Seventeen bullets of various calibres were found in his body. Of these projectiles, five were fatal. Only two of the bullets were not fired from close range. The father, Hacı Esvet Şenyaşar, who had rushed to the hospital on foot, was severely injured there by blows to the head with an oxygen cylinder. He died a day later, while the funeral of his two sons was attacked by the police with tear gas.

What is particularly perfidious about the Turkish judiciary’s actions is that while so far only one of the assailants has been sentenced for the triple murder of the Şenyaşars (18 years), another son of Emine Şenyaşar is to serve almost 38 years in prison for allegedly killing an attacker, even though it has been proven that he did not shoot the man.