5 years have passed since the ISIS bombing that killed 103 people in front of the Ankara Train Station on October 10, 2015. 103 people who came all over Turkey were slaughtered while hundreds were injured, many lost limbs. Gökhan Yaralı who lost his leg at the bombing and has been living with a prosthesis, said: "I was there with the motivation given by the people whose bodies haven't been delivered to their families for two years, with the belief that peace process must must continue" while İlyas Kaya who had a head injuriy at the explosion said he was there to make sure what happened in Diyarbakır in June 5 and what happened in Suruç in July 20 never happen again.

 

'THEY PUT WAR AGAINST PEACE'

 

Yaralı, stating that 'what we most need is peace', said: "This is not just for us, the whole world needs peace the most. We are going through a time where people can't tolerate other people being in peace. I grieve after every explosion, every massacre." Explaining that the language of peace must become prevalent, Yaralı said: "But they put the rethoric of war against the rhetoric of peace. You are labelled as a terrorist, treator, a seperatist when you say peace. They spreaded enmity towards those who insist on peace. There were enmity between societies before. Now there is enmity between neighbors. People are enemies with the disabled, the trees, the elderly, everything that doesn't look like them."

 

THE YOUNGEST WAS 8

 

Stating that he has not been able to come to the vigils for two years, Yaralı said: "I was here everytime for the first 3 years. But it always hurt. 103 people were slaughtered there. The youngest was 8 years old. If that was a slaugterhouse, they wouldn't let cars drive on that road. But cars are driving by that place people were blast into pieces. People are insensitive. I can't handle this anymore."

 

'I WOULD GO AGAIN'

 

Starting his words with his belief in peace, İlyas Kaya said: "We came to Ankara to demand peace on October 10. We were slaugthered. And it continued in the past 5 years. Now if there was a peace rally in Ankara all over again, I would go again being the cripple I am today. I would go if I knew the bombs would explode again."

 

Kaya summed up the pain he experienced after the news of every conflict, death and explosion experienced in the escalating conflict process by saying 'My wound bleeds all over again'. Stating that his treatment due to the injuries he suffered from the explosion continues, Kaya said he is ready to pay the price for the peace and that he feels the need to tell everyone what a beautiful thing peace is.

 

'THERE MUST BE A MONUMENT FOR SOCIAL MEMORY'

 

In addition to their beliefs and hopes for peace, one of the common things Yaralı and Kaya have is their grief that a monument is still not erected. Kaya and Yaralı added that a monument is needed to create a social memory.

 

THEY ADRESSED DAVUTOĞLU

 

Kaya and Yaralı both expressed that their wounds don't heal because the people responsible were not punished. Yaralı said: "There are people in prison for it. But there are the ambulance drivers who chose not to arrive at the scene, there are the law enforcement officers who say 'we knew about the bombing but we didn't say in order not to stir outcry among the public', there are the traffic cops who stopped the car with the bomb on the way and imposed a fine and let it go. None of them were punished. Adressing Ahmet Davutoğlu, the Prime Minister of the time, Yaralı said: "As a person who lost a body part I wonder, what happened between June 7 and November 1? I want to know what happened!"

 

Kaya said: "I am stopped by the police twice on my way to Diyarbakır from my village 30 km away. How can two suicide bombers come from one end of Turkey to the other? I can not comprehend it. Those who overlooked that fact are unpunished." 

 

 

 

MA/ Emrullah Acar