Once again, the Saturday Mothers in Istanbul took to the streets to demand information about their missing relatives. The theme of the 1082nd vigil on Galatasaray Square in Istanbul was the fate of Nihat Aydoğan, who has not been seen since his arrest in 1994 in the Kurdish province of Mardin.
Gülseren Yoleri, chair of the Istanbul branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD), recalled that Nihat Aydoğan was arrested in the early hours of November 30, 1994, at his home in the district of Midyat. Security forces, including soldiers, village guards, and special forces, are said to have severely abused him in front of his family and taken him away with his hands tied and his eyes blindfolded.
Authorities refused to investigate
Aydoğan, then 39 years old, was first taken to the gendarmerie in Midyat and then to the gendarmerie headquarters in the province of Mardin. After that, all traces of him were lost. According to Yoleri, the authorities told the family that the father of four had been released after questioning. His wife then filed a complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, but was dismissed with the words: “Your husband has probably gone to the mountains. Don’t come here again.”
Years later, it emerged that Aydoğan’s death had been recorded in the official civil registry immediately after his disappearance – but without any indication of the cause of death, place of death, or burial site. The village headman responsible later admitted that he had falsified the report on the instructions of the gendarmerie.
No independent investigation
Despite several attempts, no effective and independent investigation of the case has been conducted to date, Yoleri said. A recent petition to the public prosecutor’s office in Midyat, supported by the IHD, was rejected on the grounds that there was no evidence of a “disappearance.” The investigation file was handed over to the Mardin Public Prosecutor’s Office, together with a request to close the case.
Saturday Mothers demand consequences
“Nihat Aydoğan was arrested by state authorities and has been missing ever since,” said Yoleri and stressed that the Turkish state must fulfill its obligation under international law and investigate the disappearance as there may have been a violation of the right to life, the prohibition of torture, and the right to an effective remedy. “Even after 31 years, we are still demanding justice – for Nihat Aydoğan and for all those who have disappeared,” Yoleri continued.
The initiative announced that it would continue its weekly vigils until the cases had been fully investigated.