Mother waiting to retrieve her son’s remains for 6 years in Nusaybin

Between 16 August 2015 and 14 March 2016 in the Nusaybin district of Mardin, 8 curfews were declared to crush the demands of the people for Self-Government. The 8th of the curfews, in which many civilians were killed, was declared on 14 March 2016, while the city was completely evacuated and witnessed major clashes. At least 70 civilians, 17 of whom were children, were evacuated on 26 May, following the Civil Defense Units’ (YPS) statement on May 25, 2016, “We have withdrawn from Nusaybin”.

How many victims exhumed?

Various statements were made about those who lost their lives in the city after the clashes, 69 policemen, soldiers and village guards lost their lives and 528 were injured, according to the records of the prosecutor’s office. The YPS, on the other hand, announced that 51 YPS and YPS/Jin members lost their lives in Nusaybin, while it was stated that the bodies found in the prosecutor’s office belonged to 58 people. According to the records of the Association of the relatives of those who lost someone at the hands of the state (MEBYADER), 83 bodies were exhumed in the city.

Waiting for a DNA matching

6 years have passed, yet many bodies have not been delivered to their families. After the end of the curfew, DNA samples were taken from the bodies transferred to Mardin, Antep, Urfa and Malatya. The bodies were not delivered to their families on the grounds that DNA did not match.

6 years looking for her son

Leyla Değer has been looking to get the body of her son Abdülselam Değer (Kendal), who lost his life in Nusaybin, for 6 years. She was told that the DNA did not match. She said that she heard the news of her son’s death on television. “We could not find his body. We went and asked for the body. They said it wasn’t the body of our son. We also gave blood samples 3 times. I’ve asked many times for the body. I want to give my son a grave. But I couldn’t find it. I’m still looking. 6 years have passed.”

They said, ‘You have a package’

Stating that she was called by the prosecutor’s office and said that she had “a package” to collect, the mother thought they would deliver the remains of her son in a package, like it had happened to the mother of HPG’s Agit İpek who was sent the remains by post. “I worried very much. Thinking about Ipek’s mother. There was a storm, it was raining heavily. I went to the prosecutor’s office. They gave me a file. They said that the body had not yet come out. I haven’t received any other news since that day.”

A call to all families

Reminding that the bodies of other families are still missing, Değer called on other families and said: “Let all families come together. Let’s follow our children’s struggle. Let’s stand together.”