Three detained for writing a slogan against ISIS massacre in Ankara

Three anarchists have been detained in Ankara for writing the slogan "No Forgetting, No Forgiving" to commemorate the bloody ISIS attack on a peace rally in the Turkish capital six years ago.

Three anarchists have been taken into custody in Ankara. İsmail Arıkan, Zeynep Ülger and Güney Akgün are members of the Revolutionary Anarchist Federation (tr. Devrimci Anarşist Federasyonu, DAF). They are accused of spray-painting walls in commemoration of the victims of ISIS suicide attack on a peace rally on October 10, 2015. The detainees were taken to the court for a prosecution hearing.

The criminalized writing reads, "No Forgetting, No Forgiving. İsmail Kızılçay is here, Tayfun Benol is here." Kızılçay and Benol were among the 103 people killed in the attack, which injured more than 500 people. The Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and the leftist trade union confederation KESK had called for the rally under the slogan "Labor, Peace, Democracy." The demonstrators demanded an end to the Turkish military's attacks on the Kurdish civilian population.

The suicide bombing in Ankara was the most serious terrorist attack in Turkey's history. It took place at a time when President Tayyip Erdoğan was building his one-man regime. On October 30, 2014, the National Security Council approved the plan to crush the Kurdish liberation movement. One of the subsequent massacres was the Suruç attack on July 20, 2015, in which 33 young people were blown up by a suicide bomber. ISIS is responsible for both attacks. The perpetrators belonged to an ISIS cell from Adıyaman, which is also responsible for the attack on June 5, 2015 in Amed (Diyarbakir). The bloody series of attacks also brought to light the close cooperation between the Turkish regime and ISIS.