Ex-Admiral Spoke, Families of the Missing Sued Officials of the 90s

Human Rights Association's (IHD), Commission Against Disappearances Under Detention and Association of Those, Whose Relatives Went Missing (YAKAY- DER), have filed a criminal complaint against the political and military leaders of the 90s, following the statement of retired Vice-Admiral Kiyat.

Velat Demir, the brother of Goran Demir read the statement on behalf of the families, who gathered in front of the Sultanahmet Court House.

Demir, in his statement, said:

"We have been saying, for years, that it is the security forces of the state - which is supposed to protect lives - that caused our relatives to go missing. We have been saying, for years, that those, who caused our children, spouses, brothers, parents to go missing or die, are acting within the chain of command. We have been saying for years that the unsolved murders and the missing are state policy."

"We were declared as traitors, who defame the security forces of the state. Now the members of the Turkish Armed Forces and the ministers of the state are saying what we have been saying for years."

Demir listed the names of those against whom they have filed a complaint:

"Suleyman Demirel, Tansu Ciller, Mesut Yilmaz, Necmettin Erbakan, Dogan Gures, Ismail Hakki Karadayi, Hayri Kozakcioglu, Necati Cetinkaya, Unal Erkan, Necati Bilican, Teoman Koman, Aydin Ilter, Fikret Ozden Boztepe, Abdulkadir Aksu, Murat Basesgioglu, Mehmet Agar, Meral Aksener, Nahit Mentese, Mehmet Gazioglu, Ismet Sezgin and all others involved ..."

After filing the complaint, Lawyer Abdulbaki Boga made the following statement:

"The king is naked. Kiyat could no longer endure hiding the truth. Kiyat stated that the pain we have been suffering was a state policy. As the relatives of the missing, we believe that this problem may only be solved through a fair trial. Therefore, we demand that the judicial authority investigates the people we have filed complaints against." (BT/EA)