Ayse Ateş, wife of murdered former Uluk Oçaklal chairman Sinan Ateş, shared an article by Göksal Göküs titled “Two women who know each other through heartache: Ayse Ateş and Rakel Dink” published in Mediascope. In the same post, he said, “I faced my past mistakes and failures. I made the harshest self-criticism. When they killed Sinan in the middle of the city, I saw all the beliefs that we had held and dedicated ourselves to. Our lives were a lie.” He later added:
“Women in this country, past and present, who have suffered the same oppression as me, are my own sisters.”
We all follow Ayşe Ateş’s struggle closely. We admire her resistance to the murderous network she faced, her quest for justice and her courage for her children under great threat. Together we see and hear the cracks that have opened in him due to the national lessons he has learned after the great pain he has experienced.
The misery shown at Sinan Ateş’s hearing and the image of the state standing by the murderers in the hall where justice is being served led Ayşe Ateş to this point. But now, in his latest post, Ayşe Ateş is saying something new. He is trying to connect his pain with the social strata that paid a heavy price. He calls out to those in his political circles and those who have been hurt by Uluş Oçaklal. He offers them fellowship in their suffering.
We will see together how this offer will be responded to, how Sinan Ateş’s murder will be perceived in the history of unsolved perpetrators, how the case process will proceed, and what Ayşe Ateş will do next.
I would like to remind you and Ayşe Ateş of the press release entitled “We are the ‘deep’ family of Hrant Dink”, which was read on February 8, 2010, during the hearing of the show trial in which the murderers of Hrant Dink were tried. It was a trying day, a day of trials where people came together who learned through experience that brotherhood is not only built through pain, but also through struggle, resistance and action. The statement was read by Phyllis Ali, the daughter of Sabahattin Ali, who was murdered by the state. Ayşe Ateş’s search for brotherhood continues in an uphill struggle, but it would be useful for her to know this document and the people who signed it.
We are a “deep” family at Frant Dink.
Our friends at Frant gave us the day off, and we speak for them.
We come here as brothers from Arat, Deral and Serra, we come to share and bear witness to the common injustice we have experienced for many years.
We have been reminded once again of how such systematic political murders are covered up, something we have remembered many times since the murder of Sabahattin Ali.
Most of the files have been closed and timed out. The murder of Frant Dink is still in the process of being covered up. The criminals have not yet had their time. The state still has the opportunity to isolate and expose the destructive focus that has infiltrated the country. We still have the opportunity to ensure that we do not pass on so many covered-up murders, murder conspiracy charges committed after murder, and the shame of this state to those who come after us.
We are not here with feelings of resentment, anger or revenge, but with a never-ending demand for civic responsibility and justice. We are a family made by people who live in a country where lives are constantly being taken. We do not want to see more of it. We believe that all state institutions have a responsibility to expose the organizations behind those who murder us. As long as they do not fulfill this, they will always remain criminals in our eyes. And they will have conveyed the idea that this crime could easily be carried out at any time.
We come here to say that we are watching over you. We do not believe that any secret is important enough to bring such dishonor and humiliation upon you. We come here because we hope that the court now sitting here will have the power to overturn all secrets.
For years we have been forced to say: “The current law does not give us the power to defend the dead.” But we have seen time and time again how an institution that can leave its citizens so defenseless can go to great lengths to cover up its own crimes. We have seen how many officials are mobilized to protect and safeguard criminals. Because of these images, this nation has been humiliated in our eyes many times.
We believe there is no greater humiliation or greater insult than this. If any organization, any respected person within that organization, is harmed, if they lose their reputation, let them suffer. We need to understand and explain that this is not as severe as losing one’s life.
We have come to make our voices heard, not to those who are already sensitive to these issues but who will soon despair, but to those who are in positions of responsibility and public capacity. We have come in solidarity with our brothers Alat, Deral and Sera, and Raquel Dink. We are also involved in this case and will follow up to ensure that the list of demands that the lawyers will submit to the court today is taken into account.
And finally, we are here so that the press can honestly report our demand for justice, not so that they can turn our statements into tabloids and impress grieving families.
1948.02.04 Sabahattin Ali family
1978.03.24 Doan Oz family
1979.02.01 Abdi Ipekci family
28 September 1979 Cevat Yurdakul family
December 7, 1979 Cavit Orhan Tutengil and his family
1980.04.11 Umit Kavtankuhle family
1980.05.23 Sevinch Ozgunar family
1980.07.22 Kemal Türkler family
1980.11.07 Ilhan Erdost family
1990.07.03 Çetin Emeç family
1990.04.09 Turan Dursun family
1992.09.20 Musa Antar and his family
1993.01.24 Ugur Mumuk family
1993.02.07 Nesimi Chimen family
1993.02.07 Metin Artuk family
1993.02.07 Behcet Aysan family
1993.02.07 Hasret Gültekin family
December 30, 1994 Yasemin Sebenoyan and his family
1995.01.11 Onat Kutlar family
1996.09.01 Metin Göktepe family
2009.12.18 Jihan Hale Seven Family
Who is Heiko Baghdad?
He was born in Istanbul in 1976 as the fourth child of a Greek mother and an Armenian father. After receiving his education in Armenian schools, Essayan and Mkhitaryan began studying at the Department of History, Faculty of Letters, Istanbul University in 1994. He was unable to complete his education due to the unexpected death of his father. Baghdad, who began his journalism career in 2002 with the program “So-called Remainers” on Yaşam Radio, which was the first to put the issue of minorities in Turkey on the agenda, worked as a journalist, columnist and commentator in important media institutions in Turkey. One of the founders of the “Friends of Frant” team, which was established after the murder of journalist Frant Dink in 2007 and continues the quest for justice, Baghdad published his first book, “Snail,” in which he talks about “being Armenian and being Armenian.” His second book, “Snail,” was published in 2014. Gollik was published in 2015 and his third book, “Salvation is Very Disrupted”, was published in 2016. His one-man show “Snail”, inspired by his book, captivated audiences in many cities in Turkey in 2016 and toured worldwide to rave reviews. Baghdad moved to Germany in 2017 and continues to work in journalism and production in Berlin.
