Pregnant Syrian woman, baby brutally murdered in Turkey laid to rest in Syria’s Idlib

IDLIB/SAKARYA

A pregnant Syrian woman and a baby who were brutally murdered in Turkey’s northwest were laid to rest in Syria’s Idlib on July 9. 

Nine month pregnant Emani el-Rahmun, 20, was raped and killed with her 10-month-old son Halaf el-Rahmun in Sakarya’s Kaynarca district on July 6, causing outrage across Turkey. 

The mother was killed after being beating with a stone, while her baby was choked to death. 

Two men, Cemal Bay and Birol Karacal, were detained and arrested after confessing to the murder on July 7. 

The bodies of el-Rahmun and her son were taken to the Reyhanlı district of the southern border province of Hatay late on July 8, before being sent to Syria through the Babül Hava border gate for a burial. 

Teams from the Humanitarian Relief Foundation (İHH) accompanied the funeral vehicle. 

Speaking at the funeral, the woman’s father, Muhammed Abdülhadi Ali el-Rahmun, said he wanted the harshest punishment possible to be given to those who committed this “horrible crime.”

“What these criminals did doesn’t in any way represent the Turkish people. The Turkish people are our brothers and friends. We will continue to think this,” el-Rahmun said, thanking the authorities for apprehending and arresting those responsible for the killings in a short period of time.  

Another relative, whose name was not disclosed, also said “this brutality doesn’t represent the Turkish people and government.”

A day earlier, funeral ceremonies were held in Sakarya with the participation of Religious Affairs Directorate (Diyanet) head Mehmet Görmez.

“What happened to us so that we became the killers of a baby who took asylum in our conscience and mercy?” Görmez said during the ceremony. 

Family and Social Policies Minister Fatma Betül Sayan Kaya, Sakarya Governor İrfan Balkanlıoğlu, ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) spokesperson Mahir Ünal and Sakarya Mayor Zeki Toçoğlu also attended the funeral, as well as over 10,000 citizens. 

Many people were seen carrying banners reading “Believers are brothers” and “Racism is haram,” as the crowds chanted slogans in support of death penalty. 

Meanwhile, Karacal’s father İsmail Karacal said his son was previously jailed over sexual assault for 2.5 years, adding that “he doesn’t ever want to meet with him again.”

“He is not my son anymore. I don’t know what to say to the victims’ family,” Karacal told daily Hürriyet on July 9.

Birol Karacal’s wife, whose name wasn’t disclosed, has also said she would not carry the same surname as him anymore.

“I’m a mother and I curse those who killed a pregnant woman and a baby. What happened is inhumane. I won’t have his surname anymore and will do everything for my child to not carry it too. That man is not my child’s father anymore and means nothing to me,” she told daily Hürriyet.