Diyarbakır Medical Chamber gives peace award to woman seeking justice for slain family members
Diyarbakır Medical Chamber has announced that this year's Peace, Friendship and Democracy Award will be given to Emine Şenyaşar, who has been fighting for justice for her husband and two children who died in a 2018 attack that involved AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız's bodyguards and relatives.
Duvar English
Diyarbakır Medical Chamber (DTO) has announced that this year's "Peace, Friendship and Democracy" award, as part of the 14 March Medicine Week, will be given to Emine Şenyaşar who has been seeking justice for her family members who were killed by the bodyguards and relatives of a Justice and Development Party (AKP) deputy in southeastern Turkey.
On behalf of the jury, the head of the Chamber Elif Turan said that Şenyaşar had become a "symbol of the pursuit of justice" as she continues her vigil for justice despite all kinds of pressures, interventions, detentions and investigations.
“In our country, there is an extraordinary process in which the principle of the rule of law is seriously eroded, fundamental rights and freedoms are shelved, all kinds of struggles for seeking rights are met with violence and pressure, tens of thousands of people who demand peace are arrested. As a result of all this, a climate of fear was created with the one-man regime,” Turan said.
On June 14, 2018, during his re-election campaign, AKP MP İbrahim Halil Yıldız and his brother and bodyguard, Mehmet Şah Yıldız, stopped by the Şenyaşar family market in the district of Suruç in the southeastern province of Şanlıurfa.
An argument between the AKP MP and the Şenyaşar family resulted in the killing of Esvet Şenyaşar and his two sons, Celal and Adil. Eight other people were injured.
Emine Şenyaşar and Ferit Şenyaşar, who survived the attack, have been since demanding justice for the killed family members, holding a vigil outside the courthouse.