ISTANBUL - Abdullah Öztüre, who was arrested and tortured during the September 12 military coup, stated that there has been a "monism policy" that has continued since then.

 

The military coup of September 12, 1980, led by Kenan Evren, has passed its 43rd anniversary. The coup that paved the way for a new regime went down in history as one of Turkey's darkest periods, with cruelty, torture, executions and deaths. According to official figures; The military coup, in which 650 thousand people were detained, 230 thousand people were tried by military courts, 52 thousand people were arrested, 48 people were executed, 300 people lost their lives, 171 of whom were tortured, hundreds were disappeared, and thousands were subjected to torture benches, is a memory that is still waiting to be confronted.

 

Abdullah Öztüre, one of the witnesses of the period who was arrested after the coup and spent a total of 6 years in Malatya Type L Prison, Maltepe Military Prison and Alemdağ Prison, talked about the violations he was exposed to and his testimonies.

 

DISCRIMINANT POLICIES OF THE PERIOD

 

Stating that he could not tolerate the obstruction of the funeral of Vedat Demircioğlu, a student of Istanbul Law Faculty, one of the revolutionary names of the 1968 generation, in Konya, Öztüre said: "I was introduced to politics thereupon. The main policy of the period was discrimination. I was a successful student in high school because I am a Democrat, my teacher deliberately failed me even though I was very successful. That's why I felt the first blow and discrimination then. At that time, I did not think that people would be so unfair and unlawful. In this way, my educational life was undermined. Between 1978 and 1979, these injustices and unlawful acts reached their peak. It was impossible not to be affected by these unfair practices."

 

THE PROCESS LEADING TO SEPTEMBER 12

 

Stating that economic and social problems and polarization peaked during the coup process, Öztüre said: "The May 1, 1977 massacre and the Çorum and Maraş massacres against Alevis increased this tension and polarization. Those who committed these massacres were brought from outside and that the society did not have enough information about this issue. We, as the 78's initiative, started to investigate these events at that time. The society did not know what was happening. We were trying to convey to the society what was happening, under very difficult conditions, with the tools and equipment we had. We did not have such technological tools at that time. After these processes, society began to become more tense. This process was the process that led us towards September 12."

 

'I WENT INTO A COMA DUE TO TORTURE'

 

Stating that he was detained in Istanbul when the coup took place, Öztüre said: "I was taken to Maltepe Military Prison and was subjected to intense torture during interrogation. I fell into a coma due to the torturu I was subjected to. After a long torture, I went into a coma and came back from death. Torture left a huge mark on my life. When they took me to the military hospital in a coma, I was saved because a nurse working at the hospital recognized me. The fact that that nurse was on duty and knew me made me hold on to life again. The police who brought me to the hospital said to the nurse, 'We found this on the road.' As a result of the nurse's efforts, they allowed me to stay for a few days. I pulled myself together a bit. They were trying to force me to accept events that I did not agree with, through torture. Then they arrested me again without any information or documents."

 

ÖZTÜRE'S HANDS WERE CHAINED FOR 7 DAYS

 

Stating that he was tortured again on the way when he was arrested and taken to Kartal Alemdağ Military Prison, Öztüre said: "A resistance against torture started when I went to Alemdağ Prison. I  was sent to Metris Prison after a year and a half in Alemdağ Prison, then to Sağmalcılar Prison after a year there, and then to Malatya and Elazığ prisons respectively. I was tortured while I was transferred to Malatya Type L Prison. My hands were tied with chains for 7 days. They squeezed so hard that we could no longer hold our hands. When my family came to see me, they were also mistreated. My mother became neurotic because of this."

 

THE POLICY OF 'MONALISM' 

 

Emphasizing that there has been no positive change since then, Öztüre pointed out that Turkey is still governed by the coup law. Expressing that the "Monist" Constitution was used by the AKP for its own interests, Öztüre said: "The left and socialists, especially the Kurds, are fighting against it. AKP imposes this monism on Kurds and citizens of other beliefs who want equal citizenship rights."

 

DEMOCRATIC CONSTITUTION DEMAND

 

Underlining that these problems cannot be solved without a democratic and liberal Constitution, Öztüre called for a common struggle and said: “All workers, laborers and minority nations who are sensitive to this issue should unite and struggle together. They must express their demands for a democratic and liberal society. It is necessary to organize and struggle.”

 

MA / Ferdi Bayram