The release of İzzettin Tekmen, a 30-year prisoner in Diyarbakır High Security Closed Prison No 2, was postponed for 10 months by the Prison Administration Observation Board. The board cited Tekmen's failure to attend "workshops and courses" as the reason for the delay. İzzettin Tekmen, who lived with his family in Kanî Mîrbo (Yuvalı) village of Misirc (Kurtalan) district of Sêrt (Siirt), had his house burnt down in 1993. The family had to migrate to the centre of Sêrt after their village was burnt down. In the city centre, the pressure on the Tekmen family did not end and their houses were raided. 

 

İzzetin Tekmen was targeted by soldiers in 1994. Tekmen, who was shot at under the pretence of a clash, was said "dead" after 18 bullets and left at the hospital.  After the efforts of his family, Tekmen was taken under treatment at the hospital. Tekmen, who had 10 bullets removed from his body during his treatment at the hospital, was arrested on 13 January 1995 with 8 bullets in his body and sent to prison. Tekmen was tried at the Diyarbakır State Security Court and sentenced to life imprisonment on the charge of "attemp to separate a part of the territory under the sovereignty of the state from the state".  Tekmen spent 30 years in prison with platinum in his right and left legs and 8 bullets in his body. Tekmen was held in Sêrt, Amed (Diyarbakır), Yozgat, Bandırma and Balıkesir prisons respectively.  

 

AYŞE TEKMEN'S STRUGGLE

 

Tekmen's wife Ayşe Tekmen has been continuing her struggle ever since. Ayşe Tekmen, who was subjected to intense torture by soldiers when their village was raided in 1993, raised her 7 children after her husband was imprisoned. Ayşe Tekmen, who did not leave the prosecutor's office and hospital when her husband was wounded with 18 bullets, saved her husband from death thanks to her struggle.  

 

Ayşe Tekmen stated that they were engaged in animal husbandry and agriculture in the village where they lived and said: "Our house was raided at 03.00 am and we were taken to the mosque. Once, during a house raid, one of the soldiers strangled me with a rope and I was about to die. I was saved with a last minute intervention. They tortured me from morning till night. They kept asking about my husband. Finally they burnt down our village. We came to the centre of Sêrt with a tractor.’

 

Ayşe Tekmen also told the following about the days when her husband was wounded: "First I went to the hospital, no one gave me any information. I went to many places, lastly to the prosecutor's office. The prosecutor's office told me ‘he died in a clash’. I said, ‘Give me the dead or wounded.’ They directed me to the hospital. When I went there, there were soldiers with him. He was kept without food and water for days in a place like a basement. Then he was arrested. He was sent to prison with 8 bullets. His friends looked after him here. He was told that there was a risk of losing his legs if he had an operation.  He has been living with 8 bullets since that day."

 

Ayşe Tekmen has been on the prison roads for 30 years. She described the difficulties she has been through: "We went hungry, thirsty, without clothes, but we did not remain without honour. We did not give up this struggle no matter what. Since the first day, we have struggled, risking torture, death, arrest, everything. It is better to live one day with honour than 100 days without honour.  Wherever there is a resister, I salute them all a thousand times. Resistance is honour." 

 

MET HER FATHER AT THE AGE OF 13

 

His daughter Dersim Tekmen, who was 8 months old when Tekmen was imprisoned, was only able to see her father at the age of 13. Dersim Tekmen stated that her name was Dersim upon her father's request and said, "However, Kurtalan Population Directorate did not allow this. The name was given with the insistence of my mother. However, this time a male identity card was given. With my mother's resistance, my name was changed to Dersim and the male identity card was changed." 

 

Dersim Tekmen grew up longing for her father. She added, "We, 7 siblings, grew up under difficult conditions. We had a hard time both in terms of the state and economy, but we held on to life by embracing the struggle. When we go to prisons, we are faced with difficulties. After 30 years, we waited for my father to be released, we made preparations. However, his sentence was postponed for 10 months on the pretext that he did not attend courses and workshops. This unlawfulness must come to an end. Let this persecution in prisons come to an end. Not only my father but countless prisoners are in this situation."