Young victim’s wish to never come true

ANKARA

DHA Photo

A nine-year-old boy, the youngest victim of Turkey’s deadly terror attack on Oct. 10, was commemorated by his friends and teachers with tears at his school in Ankara on Oct. 12, with pictures and a short video.

Veysel Atılgan is the youngest victim of the twin blasts that took place in front of a train station where thousands of demonstrators gathered to march in a peace rally toward Sıhhiye Square in Ankara.

İbrahim Atılgan decided to join the rally with his nine-year-old son, believing that there wouldn’t be any security problems in the capital, an idea shared by most demonstrators until the moment when the twin bombs exploded.

Veysel’s teachers and friends at Kürşad Bey Primary School cried during a ceremony on Oct. 12, knowing that his wish to become a lawyer could never come true. In a video, Veysel Atılgan, seen in his school uniform, says that he wants to be a lawyer when he grows up, along with a bicycle and a tablet from his mother, as a gift. “I want to become a lawyer. From my mother, I want a bicycle, a tablet and a computer,” he says with a smile in the video, released after the incident. A picture of Veysel was placed at his desk in a classroom, filled with flowers left by friends and teachers. 

İbrahim Atılgan, a worker in Turkey’s train stations, and Veysel Atılgan were laid to rest in the Gercüş district in the southeastern Batman province on Oct. 12. Some relatives had nervous breakdowns when the dead bodies of father and son were brought to the Pınarbaşı neighborhood cemetery.