"We don't Celebrate Mother's Day"

Saturday Mothers / People of Turkey, a peaceful group that has been gathering weekly in downtown Istanbul since 1995, commemorated Kazım and Halil Alpsoy who disappeared under police detention in 1994.

On their 434th gathering, Saturday Mothers of Turkey reminded that the next would be International Mothers Day. "We don't celebrate Mothers Day. We don't want flowers from anyone. We want to smell the grave soil of our children," they said on Saturday. 

Mehmet Alpsoy, Kazım Alpsoy’s son, addressed a speech during the commemoration.

"They want us to suffer more. Therefore they have backed up the killers. We don't have any trust left in the authorities. They had no right to leave many fatherless.

Serdar Alpsoy, Halil Alpsoy's son, on the other hand, read aloud a poem dedicated to his father. 

Two cousins shared their fathers' stories as follows:

On 12 May 1994 Halil Alpsoy (37) was returning back from a family visit along with his 40 day old son in Istanbul. He was detained in front of his apartment in Kanarya by a group of police officers who were carrying arms and scanners. Police calmed Alpsoy's wife, saying that "he will be back in half hour". He never returned.

18 days later, his body - almost unidentifiable due to heavy torture - was found in the woods in Kırıkkale province located in central part of Turkey. Alpsoy family's inquiries on his detention yielded no results on torture allegations.

On 18 May 1994 Kazım Alpsoy was detained by police in Adana province. He was it through torture during his interrogation in police headquarters and local intelligence headquarters in Adana district.    

Leyla Erdoğan Aksoy, Alpsoy's wife who didn't speak Turkish at the time, submitted a complaint to a prosecutor through his Turkish speaking son, Mehmet.

The prosecutor allegedly tore their complaint not pieces, saying that "there was no detention, there is no record".

Alpsoy's body was buried in an anonymous graveyard in Akkapı, eyewitnesses said. Even though some reported the incident to the family, nome of them dared to testify before court. The family's official applications for grave opening was refused by authorities.

During a reception by PM Erdoğan, Leyla Alpsoy asked for his husband's body and its murderers. The jurisdiction remains inert for Alpsoy cousins for 19 years. (NV)