ERDİNÇ DİKMEN LOSES HIS LIFE

‘We now have 26 losses in Çorlu massacre’

Having lost his two daughters in the Çorlu train derailment in 2018, Erdinç Dikmen has died of a heart attack. “Like all of us, he was waiting for the day when the ones who caused his daughters’ death would be brought before the judge,” says Mısra Öz.

Dilek Şen

‘We now have 26 losses in Çorlu massacre’

* Photo from Funda Dikmen's Twitter account

Click to read the article in Turkish

Having lost his daughters in the Çorlu train derailment in Tekirdağ on July 8, 2018, Erdinç Dikmen has died of a heart attack.

Announcing the passing of Dikmen on her social media account, Mısra Öz, who herself lost her son Oğuz Arda Sel in the massacre, has written, "Brother Erdinç's heart cannot stand this grief anymore. His deceased body will be laid to rest beside his daughters in Uzunköprü following the mid-afternoon prayers today (September 17). May he rest in peace."

Mısra Öz says, "Like all of us, he was waiting for the day when the ones who caused his daughters' death would be brought before the judge. He was a person enduring in silence, he was not crying his sorrow out loud like us. If his daughters were alive today, brother Erdinç would not have had that heart attack because he had no health problems. We have been suffering grievously, his heart has been unable to stand it."

"The families of 25 people died in spirit in the Çorlu massacre," says Öz, adding: "If we cannot see brother Erdinç among us today, Prosecutor Galip Özkurşun, who hinders the trial from progressing, is as responsible as the murderers. The real responsible parties should have been put on trial by now or a fair trial should have been held. We now have 26 losses in Çorlu."

'The mothers' rage will drown the murderers'

Erdinç Dikmen was one of the people who went in front of the Çorlu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office following the latest hearing of the Çorlu train derailment case on September 7 and protested the prosecutor by chanting the slogan, "The rage of mothers will drown the murderers."

.@CanAtalay1 kararı değerlendiriyor pic.twitter.com/zdcHNZ4wRF
— Dilek Şen (@ddileksen) September 7, 2021

What happened?

Leaving Turkey's northwestern Edirne province for İstanbul with 362 passengers and 6 personnel on board, a passenger train derailed and rolled over in Çorlu, Tekirdağ on July 8, 2018. 25 people, including seven children, lost their lives and 328 others got wounded.

The indictment prepared by the Çorlu Chief Public Prosecutor's Office demanded the penalization of Railway Regional Maintenance Manager Turgut Kurt, Road Maintenance and Repair Chief Özkan Polat, Line Maintenance and Repair Officer Celaleddin Çabuk and Bridge Chief Çetin Yıldırım, who signed the annual inspection report before the derailment. Found to be the primary negligent parties in Çorlu train massacre, they are charged with "reckless injury and killing."

The following 25 people lost their lives in Çorlu:

Ersen Gül, Serhat Şahin, Melek Tuna, Ayşe Başaran, Ergün Kerpiç, Hakan Sel, Oğuz Arda Sel, Özge Nur Dikmen, Gülce Dikmen, Sena Köse, İrfan Kurt, Mavinur Tiflizden, Bahar Koçman, Yağmur Laçin, Özcan Cesur, Derya Kurtuluş, Beren Kurtuluş, Emel Duman, Bihter Bilgin, Ömer Alperen Can, Seyfi Erbil, Zübeyde Seven, Gani Kartal, Rubize Kartal, Fethiye Yıldız

(DŞ/SD)

Dilek Şen

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İstanbul Üniversitesi İletişim Fakültesi Gazetecilik Bölümü 2014 mezunu. Mesleğe 2013’te başladı. T24'te stajyerlik, Cumhuriyet'te editörlük, Medyascope'ta muhabirlik yaptı. Uluslararası Gazeteciler Programı’nın (IJP) Johannes Rau Burs Programı'nı 2017'de Berlin'deki taz gazetesinde, State Scholarships Foundation’ın (IKY) Yunan Dili ve Kültürü programını ise 2019'da Yanya Üniversitesi'nde tamamladı.