Prepared as part of the "Memory and Youth" project by the Center for Memory Studies, the documentary explores how Aksu’s grave in Gever (Yüksekova), Colemêrg (Hakkari), was desecrated seven times over nine years by state forces. Aksu was one of the 33 young people killed in the ISIS suicide bombing on July 20, 2015, known as the Pirsûs Massacre, while on his way to deliver toys to children in Kobanê.

 

A SYSTEMATIC PATTERN OF DESTRUCTION

 

Directed by Caner Dara, the film compiles extensive field and archival research conducted between 2015 and 2024, documenting the destruction of cemeteries by state forces. It incorporates legal files, testimony from human rights organizations such as the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) and MEBYA-DER, as well as footage captured after the attacks.

 

The documentary reveals that between September 17, 2015, and April 4, 2020, at least 122 separate attacks were carried out on Kurdish cemeteries, resulting in the complete destruction of 1,644 graves and damage to another 2,926.

 

Hey Hawar argues that these attacks are not only acts of physical destruction but also violations of memory, mourning rights, and spatial justice. The title is drawn from a poem by Kurdish poet Arjen Arî, with "Hey Hawar" meaning "cry" or "wail" in Kurdish, representing both personal grief and collective trauma.

 

WHO WAS SÜLEYMAN AKSU?

 

Born in Gever in 1990, Aksu graduated from Çukurova University as an English teacher. He joined a youth delegation heading to Kobanê to bring hope to children affected by war, only to be killed in the suicide attack in Suruç. After his burial in his beloved hometown, his grave became a target of repeated vandalism. Despite a legal complaint filed in April 2019 for “insulting the memory of a person” and “damaging places of worship and cemeteries,” no action has been taken against the perpetrators to date.