URFA - The bones found in the neighborhood where the Bucak Tribe lived, known as the "JITEM headquarters", gave hope to the families of those dissappeared in the region. The elder brother of Nazım Babaoğlu, the reporter of Özgür Gündem Newspaper, said that they were worried that the bones may also be dissappeared.

 

The bones found in the Arabuk Neighborhood of Hilvan in Urfa, gave hope to 40 families whose relatives were dissappeared in the 1990s.

 

Human bones were found in the excavation carried out on July 22 in the neighborhood, which was allegedly used as the headquarters of the Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-Terrorism (JITEM) in the 1990s, which was owned by the village guard Bucak Tribe until recently. It was stated that the bones found were covered again, and then the bones were excavated under the supervision of the prosecutor's office. While the bones taken were sent to the Urfa Forensic Medicine Institute for DNA testing, families of Ahmet Kalpar, Hüseyin Taşkaya, Şefik Geçgel, Faik Kevci, Adnan Bağca and Nazım Babaoğlu applied to the Hilvan Chief Public Prosecutor's Office through the Human Rights Association (İHD) and the Lawyers' Association for Freedom (ÖHD) Urfa branch.

 

Cemal Babaoğlu is one of the 40 families whose relatives was dissappeared on the borders of Urfa. Cemal Babaoğlu, the elder brother of then Özgür Gündem Newspaper reporter Nazım Babaoğlu, who did not return from Siverek on March 12, 1994 where he went to follow a story, expressed his concern about the fact that the bones can also be dissappeared. Reminding that bones were found in the area belonging to the Sub-districts before, Babaoğlu reminded that human bones were found in a construction excavation carried out on September 5, 2013 in the Eyvanat Bahçesi region in Siverek district.

 

Babaoğlu said that the Forensic Medicine Institute of the Ministry of Justice prepared a report on the bones found in the garden under the auspices of the Galoj family of the village guard Bucak tribe, which was used as a recreation area in the 1990s. It was stated that there are bones belonging to 9 people, both children and adults and they are at least 50 years old. Babaoğlu added that the cause of death could not be determined in the report, and after the report, the prosecutor's office decided "There is no need for an investigation".

 

Stating that they have been searching for the bodies of their loved ones for 32 years, Babaoğlu said: "They were no where to be found then all of a sudden they were found in an excavation area, as if they are screaming to be found."

 

'ITS A COLLECTIVE WOUND'

 

Stating that as the family of the dissappeared they were concerned, Babaoğlu said: "They state that dissappeared our loved ones can dissappear their bones as well. If they run an effective investigation they can find out who the bones belong to. It can be Nazım Babaoğlu. This is a collective wound. These are political murders."

 

Pointing out that Nazım Babaoğlu went to Siverek to follow and story 28 years ago and never came back, Babaoğlu said: "They detained him there but they said they didn't have him. Then some witnesses came out and told who detained him. It was the rangers and Petty Officer Mehmet Kıraç and Leiutenant Ahmet Şentürk. The state knew what happened to Nazım. It was a crime against humanity. Even though the AKP said they will shed a light on what happened back in those years, they shelved all these crimes. How can the AKP that walk hand in hand with Mehmet Ağar shed a light on these crimes? The prosecutor must make an investigation in the area where the bones were found and I'm sure they will find more bones. We hope that they won't pave it over again. Universal law must be applied to avoid such things from happening again."

 

MA / Emrullah Acar