JINHA

ISTANBUL – The Saturday Mothers of Istanbul gathered at Galatasaray Square for the 527th week of their justice action yesterday.

Several politicians were present at the gathering. PervinBuldan, of the Peoples' Democratic Party and herself a member of the group, was there, as was CHP Istanbul MP SezginTanrıkulu.

This week, the group shared the story of Mustafa Erzik, forcibly disappeared in 1994 for refusing to join the Turkish state's paramilitary village guard system.

Mustafa Erzik was living in the village of SasonBalbaşı (Heribe in Kurdish) in Diyarbakır province in May 1994 when soldiers raided the village, burning some of the houses. They took Mustafa away, blindfolded and handcuffed, in a tank in front of the other villagers eyes. His family found one of his shoes and bloodstains in the site the tank had gone to.

After his family searched for Mustafa at all the military installations and hospitals in the province, soldiers came and arrested Mustafa's father. The soldiers tortured him extensively in an attempt to get him to give a statement saying the PKK had killed his son, but he refused. Four days later, shepherds found Mustafa's body in a creek in Batman province. He had been dragged from a tank and shot.

GülsümKav, speaking about the incident, noted that currently, the state records Mustafa's death as "a terrorist who died in battle."

(dk-zı/fk/cm)