Levent Gök, former MP of the Republican People's Party (CHP) and former Deputy Speaker of the Parliament, had a monument built in memory of 34 people, 19 of whom were children, who were murdered in the Roboskî village of Şirnex's Qileban (Uludere) district on December 28, 2011, during the bombardment of warplanes. In addition to the names of 34 murdered people, the statue also features a mother crying for her murdered child. The statue has not been taken to Roboskî yet due to weather conditions. The statue will be placed in a place deemed appropriate by Roboskî families in their village in the spring.

 

'THE STATE IS ATTEMPTING TO BLACK ROBOSKI'

 

Gök, whom we met with about the construction of the statue, said: "The massacre, which has been going on for 12 years, is being tried to be obscured, cooled down and forgotten. I had the monument built for this reason. I fulfilled my political, humanitarian and moral responsibility in the face of this situation that injured the public conscience.

I went to the village after the Roboskî Massacre. Mothers welcomed them crying with photographs of their lost children in their hands. The mothers pulled me into a room. We trust you, shed light on this massacre. I also conducted important research with my own efforts based on the very limited documents I had. I explained how the massacre happened in my speeches on television channels and in the Parliament. These citizens living at the zero line of our border have the right to receive their share of justice. 34 people died and not a single responsible person was prosecuted." 

 

'REPRESENTING OF EVERY MOTHER WHOSE CHILD HAS KILLED'

 

Drawing attention that he made a mark in history with his book "Roboski: Tears of Uludere", Gök said: "I stated that I would donate the income of this book to the families. The income of the book was very small, but with the help of a few of our friends, we met with the families to keep the memory of our children alive and protect the tears of their mothers. We planned such a design for the family. The crying mother in this design represents every mother whose child has been killed, and the child next to her represents our dead children; therefore, every mother who looks at her will see herself there." 

 

Stating that he is trying not to forget the massacre, Gök said: "We are trying to display a humanitarian stance that we will leave to the future, reflecting the pain of their families and showing that they are not abandoned. I hope this will translate the emotions; thus, we are trying to fulfill our moral and humane duty."

 

MA / Diren Yurtsever

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