‘When a loved one dies, you cry for a day; when missing, you cry everyday’

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"After my mother and father got missing, I have started using Twitter and seen how busy the agenda of Turkey is. I have seen that I am not the only one searching for her father; some search for their father, some for their children, some for their siblings...

"We know where my mother is. We visit her, we pray for her; she has a place, but what about my father...

"When a loved one dies, you cry for a day; when he or she is missing, you cry everyday. We are always missing, we are always in suspense both mentally and emotionally. We want our father, we insist on it."

This is how Gülcan Diril talks about her father Hurmüz Diril, whose fate and whereabouts have been unknown for a year.

The children of Hurmüz Diril (72) and Şimuni Diril (65) were informed on January 11, 2020 that their parents were missing.

When they went to Kovankaya village in Turkey's southeastern province of Şırnak the next day, Apro Diril, the cousin of Hurmüz Diril, said that the couple was abducted by three members of the organization.

They went to the gendarmerie station and reported them missing. But Kovankaya is a mountain village where winters are really harsh. Search operations could not be conducted.

A few days later, soldiers came to the village and searched a narrow area around their house, but did not go further than this.

The children of the couple were told that weather conditions should go better so that the search efforts could start.

Months passed and Şimuni Diril was found dead by her children some 800 meters away from the village on March 20, 2020. Having gone missing on January 11, Hurmüz Diril's fate and whereabouts are still unknown.

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'I wish my father came but...'

"I wish my father came but...," says Gülcan Diril, the daughter of Hurmüz and Şimuni Diril, but she has no hope that her father might still be alive. She says that they need to find him to move on.

Let's listen to Gülcan Diril now: 

"My parents had been living in the village all year round since 2015. Apart from them, my father's cousin Apro Diril was also living in the village.

"My father used to love the village a lot, he would worship the soil. They were people who would not harm anyone, they were struggling for their lives on their own. They were loved by everyone. The village was not a place where they could come to any harm.

"There had not been any problems by then, by last January. We are 11 siblings in total; my mother used to call one of her children every day. On January 8, 2020, none of us could reach them by phone. As we got more and more worried about them, we came to the village on January 12. We then made an application and reported our family missing.

"My elder brother waited there for 17 hours'

"Apro Diril gave a statement as an eyewitness. He said that they had been taken by three people; he said that they were the members of the organization and would bring them back.

"The gendarmerie said it was not possible. Search could not be conducted due to winter conditions. We waited for months, snow started to melt.

"On March 20, 2020, when my elder brother set out to graze the goats, he found my mother on the shore of the river. It was around 9-10 in the morning. He informed the gendarmerie about it. Soldiers came 17 hours later, they came the next day. My elder brother and paternal uncle kept watch by my mother's side under the rain for 17 hours."

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'No bullet mark in the report'

"My mother used to plant roses, my father trees; they would share their bread with everyone," says their daughter and continues as follows:

"There were signs of trauma on my mother's body. Based on our observations, we think that she was killed with a firearm.

"It is a murder, it is obvious. The autopsy report also confirms that she received a blow, but it does not mention a bullet mark. I mean, it is a one-paragraph report and not satisfying.

"We also found the clothes of my mother in the river. They were also sent to forensic examination, but there are still no results. We think that something explanatory will be said based on all this."

'Eyewitness gave contradictory statements'

According to Gülcan Diril, her relatives changed their statements after her mother Şimuni Diril was found:

"After my mother was found, my father's cousin started saying, 'I mistook them, I don't know who abducted them.' He gave a statement twice. He gave the first one as an eyewitness and the second as a suspect. Both statements were contradictory, but they did not get down on it.

"It has been a year, but there is still no word from my father. They say that our village is in the operation zone. They say that there are searches conducted as part of the operation.

"A search was done in April as part of the operation. The governor made a statement in May and said, 'We couldn't find him.' A second search was done in October and no results could be found again."

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'Country's agenda is so busy that...'

Gülcan Diril is of the opinion that if public awareness is raised about the issue, her father can be found. Demanding empathy from people, she says:

"I was not a person using Twitter. I used to follow the news on television. After my mother and father got missing, I have started using Twitter. Then, I have seen how busy the agenda of Turkey is.

"I have seen that I am not the only person searching for her father. Some search for their father, some search for their children, some search for their siblings... But the agenda of Turkey is so busy that our cry is not heard. Very few people raise their voices along with ours.

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'They would share their bread with everyone'

"My father used to love his village to such an extent that he would worship his land. He planted 77 trees. My mother used to love flowers a lot, she would plant roses. She wanted roses from me, I was going to give them to her when I visited them. My mother would plant roses, my father would plant trees; they would share their bread with everyone.

"When a loved one dies, you cry for a day; when he or she is missing, you cry everyday. We are always missing, we are always in suspense both mentally and emotionally. When you have a grave, you at least know where he or she is. Now, we know where my mother is. We visit her, we pray for her; she has a place, but what about my father...

"We want our father, we are insistent on finding my father. We ask for everyone's support in this cause." (RT/SD)