Mothers protest against general

Mehmet Bilber ANKARA

The Saturday Mothers marched from the Kızılay district of Ankara on May 31 and staged a brief sit-in in front of the Justice Ministry building.

The Saturday Mothers group marched peacefully from the Kızılay district of Ankara to the Justice Ministry yesterday, in order to protest the appointment of Brig Gen. Musa Çitil as Ankara gendarmerie regional commander.

The group has been holding sit-in protests every Saturday at Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square to raise awareness and learn the fate of loved ones who disappeared after the Sept. 12, 1980 coup. There is an ongoing public case against Çitil on charges related to 13 murders committed in 2012 when he was Derik (Mardin) district gendarmerie commander.

The Saturday Mothers staged a brief sit-in protest in front of the ministry after walking from Kızılay.

Emini Erbek, the daughter of Ahmet Kaya, whose body was found dead in a burned out car after he was detained in Şırnak in 1996, spoke at the demonstration. “13 were killed with my father ... Their only crime was being Kurdish. All their bodies are lost, but Musa Çitil is on duty,” Erbek said.

Fikriye Alpsoy, the spouse of Halil Alpsoy, who was abducted in 1994, also spoke. “They took my husband at 01:00 a.m. in front of the house and tortured him. He was beyond recognition when was found ... I want Musa Çitli be on trial and imprisoned,” Alpsoy said.

According to reports by the Human Rights Foundation of Turkey (TİHV), Mardin’s Chief Public Prosecution Office in late April finalized the indictment against Çitil. The case has been sent to Çorum province due to security reasons.

On 29 April, 2013, the Çorum Heavy Penal Court No. 2 began to hear the case without the participation of Musa Çitil. The court declined the demands of the lawyers of the intervening party for the detention of Çitil and adjourned the hearing to July 1, 2013.