The Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD) has filed a complaint with the Turkish Constitutional Court in Ankara on behalf of the relatives of numerous Kurdish guerrilla fighters. The background to the complaint is the refusal to prosecute the abduction of hundreds of guerrilla fighters. The ÖHD considers the actions of the Turkish authorities to be an insult to the memory of the deceased and to constitute torture. The judicial authorities refuse however to open investigations against those responsible and to order the return of the corpses.

"Since the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor's Office systematically denies us access to the courts of instance, we, as the defenders of the bereaved, have no other way but to go to the Constitutional Court to fight for justice," said the ÖHD.

In December 2017, the Turkish state ordered the destruction of the Garzan Cemetery of Martyrs in the province of Bitlis. The cemetery was located near the village of Oleka Jor (Yukarı Ölek) where hundreds of members of the Kurdish guerrilla forces HPG and YJA-Star as well as the YPG and YPJ were buried. After the cemetery was destroyed, their bodies were exhumed on the orders of the Istanbul chief public prosecutor's office and taken to the forensic medicine department there. They were then buried in the Kilyos Jewish Cemetery in a section for "the nameless".

In total, the mortal remains of 282 people had been taken from the cemetery in Garzan. It has only been known since the end of 2019 where the bones were taken. Only 22 bodies were subsequently returned to their relatives. The bodies of 260 martyrs are still underground in Kilyos. However, not in regular graves, but packed in plastic boxes and stacked on top of each other under a sidewalk.