Family of HPG guerrilla: We won't stay silent about this execution
Family of HPG guerrilla: We won't stay silent about this execution
Mensur Güzel was executed on a ferry in the Gulf of Ýzmit on 11 November by SAS-style special squads. He had hijacked that ferry because he wanted to call attention to the isolation of PKK (Kurdistan Workers Party) Leader Abdullah Öcalan. He was unarmed and he did not harm anybody on the ferry. His was a spectacular action, aimed at highlighting the plight of Kurdish people.
The family of Güzel went to take his body from Yenibosna Forensic Medicine Institute. They said that Mensur had been shot six times, three of them in the head.
“They don’t even have respect for death. Mensur's body was subjected to a summary autopsy”, said Mensur’s cousin Birsen Tüzel adding that his head had been disfigured by the three bullets shot at him.
Birsen Tüzel emphasizes that they will not remain silent about the execution, adding; “We will take all legal steps to bring those responsible of this execution to account”.
“Mensur had a great heart. He was brave and could not tolerate injustice”, says Birsen about her cousin.
Birsen says that she shared her childhood with Mensur. She remembers his strength when coping with grieves.
Mensur Güzel was born in Kulp (Bahêmdan), in the village of Ayhan in 1984. As in all parts of Kurdistan, he also met state repression at a young age, when he was still a child. His village was being raided by special teams every day, while the people in the village were suffering from all kind of oppression for they were not giving in to the impositions of the state. Güzel’s family was forced to move to a metropolitan district when their village was burnt down by soldiers in 1992.
Birsen Güzel recalls those days and says “Our family fell to pieces after our village was burnt down. This separation was too much for us to overcome since we had grown up all together. Mensur was eight when his family moved to Kocaeli. After living there for five years, they moved back to Diyarbakýr centre".
Birsen adds that "Mensur, like all of us, was also affected by the repression we had to live. The burning down of our village engraved in the heart of all of us. Still, the military service was the turning point for Mensur. - she recalls - He was exposed to great pressures and abuses during his military service in Lice district of Diyarbakýr in 2008. He was once beaten so badly that he had his photo taken that day, so that he would never forget the day he took his decision. We have never heard from him since then. Long after, we heard that he had joined HPG.”
The family of Güzel went to take his body from Yenibosna Forensic Medicine Institute. They said that Mensur had been shot six times, three of them in the head.
“They don’t even have respect for death. Mensur's body was subjected to a summary autopsy”, said Mensur’s cousin Birsen Tüzel adding that his head had been disfigured by the three bullets shot at him.
Birsen Tüzel emphasizes that they will not remain silent about the execution, adding; “We will take all legal steps to bring those responsible of this execution to account”.
“Mensur had a great heart. He was brave and could not tolerate injustice”, says Birsen about her cousin.
Birsen says that she shared her childhood with Mensur. She remembers his strength when coping with grieves.
Mensur Güzel was born in Kulp (Bahêmdan), in the village of Ayhan in 1984. As in all parts of Kurdistan, he also met state repression at a young age, when he was still a child. His village was being raided by special teams every day, while the people in the village were suffering from all kind of oppression for they were not giving in to the impositions of the state. Güzel’s family was forced to move to a metropolitan district when their village was burnt down by soldiers in 1992.
Birsen Güzel recalls those days and says “Our family fell to pieces after our village was burnt down. This separation was too much for us to overcome since we had grown up all together. Mensur was eight when his family moved to Kocaeli. After living there for five years, they moved back to Diyarbakýr centre".
Birsen adds that "Mensur, like all of us, was also affected by the repression we had to live. The burning down of our village engraved in the heart of all of us. Still, the military service was the turning point for Mensur. - she recalls - He was exposed to great pressures and abuses during his military service in Lice district of Diyarbakýr in 2008. He was once beaten so badly that he had his photo taken that day, so that he would never forget the day he took his decision. We have never heard from him since then. Long after, we heard that he had joined HPG.”
