A condolence act was held at the family home in the Akdeniz district of Mersin for YJA Star guerrilla Arvîn Çirav Botan (Şirin Işık), who fell as a martyr on 10 April 2018, during Turkish state attacks on Xakurkê. The condolence was attended by administrators of the Association for Solidarity with Families Who Lost Relatives in the Cradle of Civilizations (MEBYA-DER), provincial and district administrators of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Mersin MP Ali Bozan, the Mersin Peace Mothers Assembly, the Association for Solidarity with Families of Detainees and Convicts in Çukurova (TUAY-DER), and party members.
Attempt to block condolence
Police sought to prevent the condolence from being held in front of the family’s home, blocking the entrances and exits of the neighborhood with armored vehicles. When officers warned that they would attack if chairs were placed in front of the house, people sat on the pavement and conveyed their condolences to the family.
Reşat Aşan, co-chair of the Mersin Provincial Organization of the DEM Party, stated that the condolence would be held despite the obstruction and said: “We will hold our condolence even if we must sit on the ground. Our condolences go first to the family and to the Kurdish people.”
We do not recognize these obstructions
Bahattin Bektaş, an administrator of the MEBYA-DER in Mersin, and said: “For two days now, the Mersin Governor’s Office and the police have been imposing obstruction and pressure here. We do not recognize these obstructions. We strongly condemn the governor’s office and the police.”
The Kurdish people stood firm
MP Ali Bozan also reacted to the obstruction of the condolence act, stressing that the right to mourn is respected in all faiths. Bozan said: “For two days we have been trying to reach the authorities. They say the condolence act cannot be held. We ask why, and the answer is that an order has been given. They say the command comes from Ankara. Today we ask those who prevent our family from holding a condolence act and those who seek to take away the right to mourn: are there people in Ankara who are against peace? Are there people in Ankara who want the youth of this country to die? Those who deny our family’s right to mourn are those who want war. If until today, we have stood for peace, from now on we will continue to stand for peace. Mr. Erdoğan says, ‘Turks, Kurds, and Arabs are brothers.’ Yet Kurds cannot mourn. Turks and Kurds are brothers, but Kurds cannot speak in their mother tongue. This mentality has cost this country dearly for 50 years. We call on you to abandon this mentality before it is too late. Those who cling to it have already been consigned to the garbage heap of history, and if you persist, you too will end up in the garbage heap of history. The Kurdish people stood by their youth. Even if it meant sitting in the middle of the street, they held their condolence act. And we will continue to hold our condolence acts.”
The family visit concluded with chants of “Şehîd namirin” (Martyrs are immortal) and applause.