Saturday Mothers Call for Week 400

With the demand to learn about their beloved ones who disappeared in the 1990s, Saturdays mothers/people will demonstrate a sit-in protest tomorrow  in the heart of Istanbul for the 400th time.

Sit-in protests began on May 27, 1995, when the dead body of Hasan Ocak was found buried in an anonymous graveyard after 55 days of torture.

Between 1995 and 1999, hundreds of women in traditional veiled clothing gathered every Saturday at 12 pm with their demand to have information about their beloved ones and see their perpetrators persecuted.

Saturday mothers became subject to police violence several times, especially and heavily between the weeks 170 and 200. Press photographers from all over the world snapped photos of old women being dragged by their hair into custody vehicles. Police detained a total of 1093 protestors in 17 years.

The weekly sit-in protests were suspended for 10 years, which were reactivated on January 31, 2009.

Saturday people have called for solidarity to meet at 12 tomorrow in front of Galatasaray High School in Taksim Square with their banner saying "We know where the perpetrators are. Where are the missing victims?" (AS)