URFA - DBP's former district co-mayor, Mehmet Koşti, who was at the Amara Cultural Center, during the attack against young people gathered in Suruç in order to support the children in Kobanê, said, "If there was no intervention, the number of people who lost their lives would not be 33, but less."
A group of young students from the Socialist Youth Associations Federation (SGDF) headed to the town of Suruç in the southeastern province of Urfa in July 2015. The young socialists aimed to reach the Kurdish town of Kobanê in Syria to bring the toys they collected for the children of war. As the group met at Amara Cultural Center in Suruç on July 20 2015, a member of a Turkish ISIS cell, perpetrated a suicide bomb attack where the group was to give a press statement. The attacked wounded 104 and claimed 33 lives.
Although 5 years have passed, the trial process could not reach to a certain level considering the impunity of perpetrators. Despite the fact that the police did not do their duty and gave way to the massacre as the camera footages recorded the ISIS members arriving to the Amara Cultural Center. Witnesses of that day shared what they lived through that day with the Mezopotamya Agency (MA).
'THEY HAD TOYS IN THEIR HANDS'
Mehmet Koşti, who was the Suruç District Co-Chair of the Democratic Regions Party (DBP) at the time, said that the young socialists from SGDF came to bring toys to children in Kobanê, and that law enforcement was constantly calling their office before their arrival. Stating that the law enforcement officers knew all details regarding the arrival of the young group, Koşti said, “The law enforcement knew. These people came with toys in their hands in the end. They stayed at the Amara Cultural Center. Then we went to meet with them with the HDP district co-chair Suphi Koçyiğit. We had a meeting with the district governor to pass these young people to Kobanê. There were about 300 people. The district governor said, 'We cannot let them all'. Then they let 10 of them to cross the border."
'PEOPLE TRYING TO HELP THE WOUNDED WERE PEPPER-SPRAYED'
Koşti reminded that they were at the Amara Cultural Center at the moment of the explosion and that the group was about to read a press statement right before the attack. "Suddenly there was an explosion. There was a fire everywhere. Then the place was covered in smoke. That day, human flesh rained from the sky. Many people were injured. We already saw that everywhere was in blood when the smoke disappeared. The injured were many. We were prevented when we tried to take the wounded to the hospital. They did not let an ambulance in the area. We carried the wounded by our own vehicles. After the explosion, the public flowed into the area. In those moments, we could not reach the police chief and the district governor. They opened fire in the air when the casualties started to be transported by civilian vehicles. We were prevented from carrying the wounded by our own vehicles as well. Ambulances could arrive to the scene after about 2 hours. Meanwhile, people trying to help the wounded were pepper-sprayed. The wounded needed to wait on the ground for such a long time. They lost a lot of blood. There were too many wounded. In other words, if there was no intervention, perhaps the number of people who lost their lives would not be 33. It could have been less. Because they lost a lot of blood.”
'MANY WOULD HAVE BEEN SAVED'
Another witness of the explosion, Suphi Koçyiğit, who was the People's Democratic Party (HDP) district co-chair at the time, said that the first thing that came to mind on July 20 is Suruç Massacre. "These young people were bringing toys to the children of Kobanê. They reached us and they told us they want to go there. So we arranged a meeting with the police chief and district governor. So they told us not all of them could pass the border. They asked us, "Are you taking their security?" We told we were no law enforcement, we would welcome them, but they were the ones to take the security. On that day, the young people arrived and wanted to read a press statement. Then there was a voice and the violent explosion occurred. At that time I couldn't see anything. Everything was covered in blood. After the explosion, I first called the Police Chief, told him about the explosion. Everyone who heard the explosion began to come to the area to help. But it was not allowed. Again, the ambulance arrived so late. People who wanted to help were pepper-sprayed. In other words, if the aid was not prevented, perhaps many more lives would have been saved."
MA / Barış Polat