Marta Sömek

 

ISTANBUL - In the investigation launched for Şimuni Diril, whose funeral was found 70 days after she was lost in Şırnak, and Hurmüz Diril, who still has not been heard from, one person was arrested after 533 days, but the fact that no official statement has been made to the public regarding the incident brings to mind that an effective investigation has not been carried out.

 

Şimuni and Hurmüz Diril, who lives in the village of Mehre (Kovankaya) in Şırnak's Beytüşşebap district and whose families last heard from them on January 7, 2020, and the public heard about their disappearance on January 11, 2020. Şimuni Diril was found murdered 70 days later, while her husband, Hurmüz Diril, is still missing. While no progress was made in the search efforts alleged to have continued and the investigation initiated for more than a year, three people, including Apro Diril, the only person living in the village, were detained on June 20 and Apro Diril was arrested on June 23.

 

The Chaldean couple Şimuni and Hurmüz Diril returned to their village called Mehre in the Beytüşşebap district, which had been evacuated many times by the state, in 2011 and began to lead a life surrounding with nature. This attempt of the Chaldean couple also encourages many Syriac families.

 

They were trying to keep their mother tongue alive

 

Şimuni and Hurmüz Diril were only one of the few who survived from the Chaldean-Christian peoples living in Şırnak. Their daughter, Gülcan Diril Üzümcü, said in an interview she gave earlier: ‘’My father wouldn't want us to speak Turkish at home,’’ and said that he encouraged them to speak Eastern Syriac and that he was trying to keep their mother tongue alive.

 

Weather conditions ‘excused’ no active search made

 

When the calendar shows the date of January 11, 2020, Remzi Diril, the priest of the Istanbul Chaldean Church, who is children of the Diril couple, goes to the village to see Şimuni and Hurmüz and cannot find either of them. It is learned that Şimuni and Hurmüz were abducted based on the stories of Apro Diril, who lived together in the village and are their relatives. Except for a few searches carried out in the village, "with the excuse" of the weather conditions, no effective search was carried out and a confidentiality order was placed on the investigation launched by the Beytüşşebap Chief Public Prosecutor's Office. In the incident where no information could be obtained apart from the statements of the only eyewitness, Apro Diril, the body of 65-year-old Şimuni Diril was found by her son in a stream near the village 70 days later.

 

530 days without result!

 

After Şimuni’s murder and her body was found, her children thought that they would face a similar result for Hurmüz, while no progress was made for 530 days. For the Hurmüz and Şimuni were taken initiatives by Syriacs in many parts of the world. 32 Syriac and Chaldean institutions, including France, Belgium, the USA, Sweden, Australia, and Iraq, sent a letter and called on Turkey to launch a serious investigation into Hurmüz Diril and to investigate the procedural faults in the forensic report of Şimuni Diril, whose body was found 70 days later.

 

All attempts failed

 

Syriac-based Christian non-governmental organization Iraqi Christian Relief Council also released a video in 12 languages in which they call for justice for Şimuni Diril with the finding of Hurmüz Diril. Again, Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) MPs brought the issue to the Parliament's agenda by giving parliamentary questions for an effective search for Hurmüz Diril and finding the perpetrators of Şimuni Diril. On the other hand, the children, and relatives of Şimuni and Hurmüz organized campaigns on social media every day, demanding justice.

 

First development: Apro Diril was arrested

 

Despite all these attempts and calls, there was no effective search for 530 days and no progress was made in the case file. On the 533th day, the "first development" took place. Two people were detained, including the only eyewitness Apro Diril, within the scope of the investigation carried out regarding Hurmüz Diril. Three days later, Chairperson of the Şırnak Bar Association, Rojhat Dilsiz, who is a follower of the investigation, shared that Apro Diril, who was in custody, was arrested and the other two people in custody were released on condition of judicial control. Chairperson of Şırnak Bar Association Rojhat Dilsiz said: ‘’The number one perpetrator and suspect of this incident is Apro Diril. He previously attacked Şimuni and Hurmüz Diril's house with a firearm and made threats.’’ In addition, the children of Şimuni and Hurmüz often called for Apro Diril's contradictory statements and his statement to be taken.

 

Repetition of the Genocide

 

The Syriac-Assyrian-Chaldean people living in Turkey await the investigation and the fate of Hurmüz Diril in "concern". Because they say that they have no hope for the judiciary. Syriacs, who have lived uninterruptedly with "unsolved murders" and "enforced disappearances" since the Sayfo Syriac Genocide, are faced with the repetition of the genocide once again with the murder and "disappearance" of Şimuni and Hurmüz Diril. The children of Hurmüz and Şimuni are partners in the same pain as the Relatives of the Disappearances, who are looking for their bones. Their only demand is to find Hurmüz, alive or dead, and to bring Şimuni’s perpetrators to justice.

 

This is not the first

 

Hurmüz Diril, who joined the Saturday Mothers to inquire about the fate of their relatives who have been missing since 1994, was also among the Saturday People. Mehre village was evacuated by the state in 1989, four families settled in the village in 1992, but the village was evacuated again in 1994. The grandchildren of Şimuni’s uncle have also been missing since 1994. After being detained in 1994, 12-year-old İlyas Diril and 16-year-old Zeki Diril were never heard from again. The enforced disappearance of two children was shared with public in the 628th week of Saturday Mothers. 

The Saturday Mothers announced that İlyas and Zeki Diril had moved to Istanbul after their village was evacuated in 1989, and that they were detained on their way from Istanbul to Şırnak on May 2, 1994, to take the money they earned home, after which they were never heard from again. The investigation initiated for İlyas and Zeki Diril resulted in non-prosecution, and Zeki Diril's family applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

 

The ECHR ruled that the state was responsible for Zeki Diril's disappearance and unanimously convicted Turkey.