DİYARBAKIR - İHD Diyarbakır branch and the relatives of the disappeared asked about the fate of Zübeyir, Kemal, Abdulbaki Birlik and Zeki Alabalık, who have not been heard from for 26 years.

 

The 642nd action of the Human Rights Association (İHD) Diyarbakır branch and the relatives of the disappeared with the slogan "Let the missing be found, let the perpetrators be prosecuted" was held on social media. They were asked about the fate of Abdulbaki Birlik, his sons Zübeyir and Kemal Birlik, and their relatives Zeki Alabalık, who were never heard from again after they were seen at the military checkpoint in the Kızıltepe district of Mardin in this week's action. Derya Yıldırım, member of board of the İHD Diyarbakır branch, told the story of the disappearance.

 

Their stories were told

 

Derya, who told the story of the disappearances with the narrations of Çetin Birlik, who applied to the İHD in 2012, stated that Kemal and Abdulbaki Birlik, who were detained in Kızıltepe Prison for about three years, were released on March 29, 1995. Derya said: “The day they will be released, Zübeyir Birlik and his relative Zeki Alabalık go to get them. After leaving the prison, they are stopped at the checkpoint set up by the soldiers at two points at the exit of Kızıltepe, while they are walking towards the bazaar. After that, they are never heard from again. İsmet İpek, who is known as the witness of the file after the incident, confirms that he saw Abdulkadir Birlik and two people with him at the checkpoint on the day of the incident. According to the accounts of some of his ward friends, Kemal Birlik goes to the hospital one day because of a dental problem while he is in prison. He is threatened by Hasan Atilla Uğur, who was the Battalion Commander of that period, saying, ‘The day you come out of prison, it will be my holiday, and you will have a disaster’. According to the expressions of Behçet Kurt, who was also the prison clerk at that time, two days before Kemal and Abdulbaki were released, Battalion Commander Hasan Atilla Uğur called the prison. He spoke to clerk. When he asked him when these two people would be released, clerk said that he could not give such information, that it forbidden, but that he could asked the prosecutor, then he insulted him and closed the phone.”

 

‘612 human bones found’

 

Expressing that the families filed a missing persons complaint to the prosecutor's office following the investigation of the Ergenekon Case, Derya said: “At that time, the prosecution took statements from witnesses and relatives of the disappeared. Families applied to İHD on June 11, 2013. Upon the application of many lawyers, including the attorneys of the association, excavation work was carried out in Yurtderi (Efare) village in Kızıltepe district on June 13, 2013. As a result of the excavations, 612 human bones were found in the well. As a result of the DNA examinations taken from the relatives of the disappeared, it was certain that some of the bones belonged to Zübeyir and Zeki Alabalık, but no information could be obtained from Abdulbaki and Kemal Birlik until today.”