ŞIRNEX - Although 8 years have passed since the murder of Mother Taybet, whose body was held in the middle of the street for 7 days, not a single person has been tried. Her husband Halit İnan said: "Despite all this brutality, the struggle of the Kurds continues."

 

8 years have passed since the curfew was declared in Şirnex's Silopiya (Silopi) district on December 14, 2015. According to the report prepared by the People's Democratic Party (HDP), 68 people aged between 11 and 75 lost their lives and more than 500 houses were destroyed during the curfews and attacks by state forces declared in the district between July 2015 and October 2016.

 

57-year-old Taybet İnan (Taybet Ana) is one of those who lost their lives during the ban declared in Silopiya. Mother Taybet was murdered with 10 bullets hitting her body as a result of snipers targeting her in front of her house on the 5th day of the ban. Mother Taybet's lifeless body was held in the middle of the street for 7 days. After the murder of Mother Taybet, her relative Yusuf İnan, who went to rescue her, was also shot in the courtyard of his house. Yusuf İnan, who was held injured for 20 hours, died from blood loss. Taybet Mother's husband, Halit İnan, who tried to take her body, was also injured in the police attack. Only her two sons and her brother were allowed to attend the funeral ceremony held after Mother Taybet's lifeless body, which was held in the middle of the street, was taken 7 days later.

 

Even though 8 years have passed, the bullet marks remain where Mother Taybet was shot. The bullets on the walls mirror what happened during the prohibition period; however, not a single person was tried for the murder of Mother Taybet. In 2020, a "permanent search warrant" was issued to identify the perpetrators. Lawyers brought the file to the Constitutional Court (AYM).

 

Halit İnan (66), whose wife's lifeless body remained in the middle of the street for 7 days and was injured in a police attack, told what happened in those days. Stating that their neighborhoods were also blockaded during the period when curfews were declared, İnan said: "Our houses were also the target of attacks and two floors of them were completely burned to ashes. We moved to our neighbor's brother's house after our house burned down. On the day Mother Taybet was shot, our neighbor's house across the street also burned down. Mother Taybet went to the neighbor across the street. It was around 19:00 in the evening. I was performing the night prayer. At that time, one of our relatives said that he heard Mother Taybet's voice. I immediately ran towards the door to go out into the street. I saw that Mother Taybet had fallen on her right arm and was just lying on the street. She called out to me, 'don't come' she said. "The sniper had fired from the minaret of the mosque at the beginning of the street and he was still standing there."

 

INAN TRIED TO RESCUE TAYBET WITH A ROPE

 

Noting that he tried to go to Mother Taybet, İnan said: “I went towards Mother Taybet, and when I approached, I saw that she had been shot in her right knee. I couldn't get too close. I threw a rope at her from behind the wall right in front of her. If she tied the rope around her wrists, I would pull her to my side. She tied the rope. I started pulling the rope. A few meters away, they suddenly started scanning where I was. It hit the wall where I took cover. In the meantime, I injured my hands."

 

'POLICE REQUESTED LOCATION AND ATTACKED'

 

Stating that his brother Yusuf İnan was trying to go out to help them, İnan said: “Just as he came to the door, he was shot again by the Turkish state forces. My brother was injured on the right side of his abdominal cavity. At that time, while trying to go out, he was trying to protect himself from the sniper in the mosque, but my brother became the target of the sniper in the buildings on the right. My brother was injured in front of his house, my wife Taybet was left in the middle of the street, and I was left behind the wall. We called my other children and informed them. Then we called the police and explained the situation. We said we were a large family. And they told us, 'Get out'. When we asked how to get out, they asked us where we were. We told them the location of our shop. Shortly after we told the location of the shop, there was an attack on the location we mentioned and they destroyed it."

 

'MY BROTHER AND TAYBET WAITED INJURED UNTIL THE MORNING'

 

Stating that that night, my brother and Taybet waited injured until the morning, İnan said: "We called the police again in the morning. He wanted us to go out with a white flag. My eldest daughter, our neighbor and my two aunts tried to go out with white cloth in their hands. As we approached the door, we were scanned with guns again. We are back. My brother had already passed away. We put his body in the basement." 

 

TAYBET HAS HELD IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET FOR 7 DAYS 7 NIGHTS

 

Stating that they then went to his daughter's house from the back, İnan continued as follows: “Taybet and my brother's bodies were held there. We stayed at my daughter's house for 7 days. Approximately 30 of us, women, children and adult men, took shelter in a house. We could only eat one meal a day. We ate a little at noon until noon the next day. On the 8th day, soldiers surrounded our place. They gathered the children in the middle, the women around the children, and us in a circle around the women. Those who came were something else. They looked like demons. They cursed us. They took our IDs and said, 'Stay here. We will take you out in the afternoon. They said, 'If you come out, we will take you, but if you don't, it is not our responsibility.' Then they took us out. Taybet and Yusuf's corpse have been held there for 7 days and 7 nights. So many years have passed. There was a great atrocity. Can a corpse be left in such a place?"

 

THE POLICE MISSED THE BODIES

 

Stating that the police took the body to Şırnak State Hospital, İnan said: “Our bodies were held by the Turkish state for 22 days. Then they kidnapped them and brought them here. They were going to bury them in the homeless cemetery. An acquaintance of ours called us and said that our bodies were brought here to Silopi State Hospital. So we went there immediately. We took our bodies and buried them side by side." 

 

'THE KURDISH PEOPLE WILL WIN'

 

Noting that a great brutality was inflicted by the state during the curfew period, İnan said: “This brutality will not be forgotten. My grandson's grandchild will not forget this either. They massacred 38 civilians inside the city. They inflicted so much brutality, but the cause of the Kurds still continues. Kurds continue their struggle from where they left off and will continue. It will be like digging a well with a needle, but it will happen. The children of the Kurdish people will win with their own will. When all Kurds achieve unity, it will be easier to win."

 

MA / Ömer Akın