Firaset Özbek Önkol was forced to migrate with her family from Licê district of Amed (Diyarbakır) to Adana after the Qelesî hamlet of Çemê Elika rural neighbourhood was burnt down three times in 1993 and the last time bombed. 

 

The family returned to their village in 2002. Their daughter Azize Önkol (Dicle Avaşin) joined the YJA Star in 2007 and was killed in an armed clash in Şemzînan (Şemdinli) district of Colemêrg (Hakkari) on 5 August 2016. The family took the body of their daughter with their own means and buried her in their village on 15 August. 

 

Rojhat Önkol (Laşer Çem), the son of the family, joined the HPG in Newroz 2014. Rojhat Önkol was killed in an air attack on 6 December 2016 in Apê Mûsa area of Licê district. His body was buried next to his sister Azize Önkol in the village cemetery on 22 February. 

 

Ferhat Önkol, one of the brothers, was detained on 22 April 2021. Önkol was arrested by the court on the charges of "terror organisation membership" and "aiding terror organisation". The lawsuit filed against father Ekrem Önkol on the charges of "terror organisation membership" and "knowingly and willingly aiding terror organisation" is still ongoing. 

 

Almost every member of the family has been subjected to state pressure and now the gravestone with the photographs of their son Rojhat and daughter Azize has been removed. The gendarmerie, citing the clothes in the photographs engraved on the gravestones, pressurised the family to remove the gravestone.

 

THE BODY WAS GIVEN AWAY IN A BAG

 

Reacting to the oppression against them and the removal of their children's gravestones, mother Firaset Özbek Önkol said that the oppression in their village had been going on for years and that their village was burnt down and they had to go to Adana. She said that their son joined the PKK after they returned and was martyred. He said that after they learnt about his martyrdom, they tried to get the body of their son and the state gave them the body of their son in a bag. 

 

She said that they built her son's grave after years: "This year we had a grave built and put their photographs in it, but they do not even tolerate it. They do not accept the photograph of our guerrilla, a child." 

 

Stating that the soldiers who came to the village warned them to remove the gravestone, Özbek said, "I asked the soldiers, 'It's been 9 years, what is the damage to you?' They said, 'The clothes of the gerrillas are on the photos, we do not accept those clothes’. We removed the gravestone so that the cemetery would not be attacked. This is persecution." 

 

She noted that the state was constantly aggressive instead of fulfilling the requirements of the peace process and said: "When they came to the cemetery, I said to them, 'It is the peace process, you are talking about peace,' and they said, 'That is true, but nothing is complete yet.’  This is the state's approach to peace. Let them approach peace seriously.”

 

 

She stated that they would not take a step back despite the attacks and concluded: "We are behind our children until the end. We will follow their path. Whether they say it or not, we will do what we know, we will not forget their way, their way is our way, you know, they scare us, we are not afraid, their way is our way as long as we are alive."

 

MA / Fethi Balaman