HDP member of parliament Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu launched a petition on October 5, World Teachers’ Day, and said: “The government should be reinstated the teachers who are the victims of the State of Emergency and a Decree-Law to their jobs by compensating for all their loss of rights.”

The link for this campaign.

 

Gergerlioğlu, who tries to be the voice of the oppressed ones and the victims through his statements and campaigns at every opportunity, stated that the treacherous coup theater, which was exhibited July 15, 2016, led to many oppressions, convictions, and unjust treatments, and along with it, led to irreparable human tragedies. Gergerlioğlu wants to draw attention to the petition on the persecutions and human rights violations in Turkey and invites the world public to be sensitive to humanity’s drama.
Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu gave the following statements while starting the petition:

“PLACE WHERE TEACHERS SHOULD BE IS SCHOOLS WITH THEIR STUDENTS.”

With the Decree Laws, the AKP government disregarded universal rules of law such as “presumption of innocence,” “legality in crime and punishment,” “the right against self-incrimination,” and “individuality of criminal responsibility.”

The Government dismissed around 150,000 people from civil service without any justification. Approximately 55,000 teachers among the Decree-Law victims have not been able to perform their profession for the last four years.

This injustice, which causes the violation of the right to education, must be ended as soon as possible.
Justice delayed is justice denied. We launched a new petition for the manifestation of righteousness. We expect you to support our campaign by signing and sharing it with your inner circle.

After the coup attempt on July 15, 2016, the Turkish Government dismissed approximately 35,000 teachers working in the Ministry of Education of Turkey from their profession by violating the presumption of innocence with Decree Laws. The Government revoked the licenses of 20,000 teachers working in private education institutions.

The link for this campaign.

 

The Government arbitrarily banned fifty-five thousand teachers from working as teachers in the public and private sectors.
Officials did find none of these teachers be related to the coup. Despite this, the AKP government disregarded the freedom of labor and contracts guaranteed by these teachers’ Constitution, whom he regarded as opposed to himself.

Each teacher deprived of his/her students and from his/her beloved profession is a significant value lost for Turkey. AKP is trying to destroy these values with her arbitrary decisions. On the other hand, there are serious tragedies taking place. Violations of rights and unjust treatments continue to the extreme.
Educators, who have been trained for years and have not been allowed to do their teaching profession, are facing with unlawful practices such as passport cancellation, blockage of bank accounts, not being able to trade in the land registry cadaster, not being able to use bank loans and cancellation of bank credit cards.

 

The link for this campaign.

 

Teachers who are labeled as “Dismissed from Public Service with the Decree-Law” in the SSI Service Scheme documentation, which is a shame for Social Security Institution (SSI) and Turkish Employment Institution (İŞKUR), are again disappointed with the rejection response from their workplaces in the different sectors they have applied for.

The Government deprived fifty-five thousand teachers who were victims of the Decree-Law of the right to work. Teachers can not get their basic human needs, such as nutrition and shelter, and the public left the teachers to die.

Teachers who have to work in construction works without any experience and unfortunately lost their workplace homicide lives are another dark side of the Decree Laws.

These teachers’ lives deprived of their professions by arbitrary decisions, were upside down due to being prevented from teaching again and even entering another job. Gergerlioğlu said:

“The pain of dozens of teachers who committed suicide, died while working informally in construction, had psychological problems, ended their marriage, and drowned in the Evros River and the Aegean Sea while trying to escape the persecution” and continued his words as follows:

We say that teachers’ place is schools, classes with their students. The Government should give back to the Teachers’ rights who are victims of the Decree-Law. We want the Government to implement the Constitution’s Universal Law principles and give back the teachers’ rights.

By compensating for all their rights loss, our teachers should return to their schools and students immediately. That request is our most essential and primary demand.

The link for this campaign.

 

The Government should pay to a maximum and reinstate to their jobs together with all their rights that existed at the time of their dismissal with the Decree-Law to the teachers even though it is impossible to compensate for both materials nonmaterial losses within this period. Additionally, we want their restoration of honor and this unlawfulness’s responsibilities to be brought to justice and to be accounted for.

We launched a petition to meet the justified demands of 55,000 teachers who are victims of the Decree-Law.

We ask for the immediate reinstatement of teachers in question to their jobs by compensating all the loss of their rights and ask for teachers whose licenses were revoked due to being a worker of the closed educational institutions. The Government should allow the teachers to work in the private sector by returning their working licenses. We want the freedom of labor and enterprise freedom to be ensured, among the most fundamental rights. End these unlawfulness acts immediately!”

Lastly, Gergerlioglu said: “Join our signature campaign, share and support us.”
The Broken Chalk members supported the petition campaign launched by Gergerlioğlu since the Broken Chalk members also wished to end those persecutions taking place in Turkey.

Additionally, on October 5, World Teachers’ Day, the Broken Chalk volunteers gathered in Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ capital. They shared the unjust treatments with the world public with press releases in Turkish, English, and Dutch.

 

The link for this campaign.

 

Zafer Kurt

06/10/2020

On October 5th, World Teachers’ Day, teachers who are barred from practicing their profession with statutory decrees came together in Amsterdam, the Netherlands’ capital city, and shared the unjust treatment they were subjected to with a press release in Turkish, English, and Dutch.
On behalf of the Broken Chalk members, Broken Chalk Spokesperson Erdinç Demirok made the English statement, Fatih Ok in Dutch, and Broken Chalk board member Feride Özer in Turkish.

• 

Feride Özer, a board member of Broken Chalk, explained their schedule and said: “October 5th is known as World Teachers’ Day. It is celebrated throughout the world with the theme “Teachers: Leading in crisis, reimagining the future.” Teachers are trying to do their best for their students during Covid-19. Although teaching is the utmost important job, compared to the other professions, they are underpaid. Nobody can pay what they deserve. They are the ones who shape our future. Adequate payment is not the only problem they are facing. As Broken Chalk, we are here to celebrate World Teachers’ Day and be the voice of the teachers who have been killed, put in prison, exiled, and lost their lives due to oppression, conflict, and persecution in the world.

Ozer added, “Teachers are the architects of society. Every individual accepts that education is the number one priority of humanity. Without the proper knowledge, we could not be able to create a peaceful community. The light of education can help us eliminate the evils from society and introduce good thoughts. Today we would like to celebrate The Teachers Day of all the teachers in the world.

Moreover, we would like to bring the teachers in danger to the public in different parts of the world. The attacks range from the bombing of schools to the killing of students and teachers. Rape and sexual violence, arbitrary arrests, and forced recruitment also occurred instigated by armed groups. Attacks on education harm the students and teachers, but they also affect the communities both in the short and long term.”

TEACHERS ARE UNDER ATTACK ALL OVER THE WORLD

• In Nigeria, Northeast 611 teachers were killed, 910 schools were destroyed in nine years.
  In Mali, 75 children have been injured in violent attacks, close to 100 are confirmed to have been recruited as child soldiers, and 900 schools remain closed due to insecurity.
• More than 22,000 students and teachers were harmed or killed in attacks on education in the last five years.
• In the US, since 2009, at least 177 schools have experienced a shooting. Attackers killed 110 students and teachers, injured 246.
• Between 2015 and 2019, 93 countries experienced at least one attack on education, 19 more than the previous reporting period of 2013-2017.
• Yemen and the Democratic Republic of Congo were particularly badly hit, with 1,500 attacks on schools in each country, and Afghanistan, Palestine, and Syria all saw 500.
• In Cameroon, over 1,000 school and university students have been threatened, abducted, injured, or killed by armed groups or security forces.
• In Ukraine, since the conflict began in early 2014, more than 750 educational facilities on both sides of the contact line have been damaged or destroyed due to hostilities.

 

The cases mentioned above are the outcome of war and conflict. One of the priorities of governments is to reduce such problems. Teachers and students from Turkey have been facing human rights violations from their Government for a long time. Their Government has taken the lives of the teachers and their families. Torture and losing their jobs are also among the things that educators have been suffering. Teachers have been exposed to torture, put in prison, exiled, and lost their lives.

• According to the data compiled by the Union of Education (Eğitim-Sen), the Turkish Government dismissed 41,005 educators, including 33,965 teachers, 5,740 academic personnel, 1,300 administrative staff at educational facilities.
• Moreover, the Government revoked the teaching licenses of more than 23,464 teachers, who used to work for the private schools affiliated with the Gülen movement.
• The number of teachers, who have shared the same fate since they used to work for university preparation schools affiliated with the Gülen movement, is officially unknown. However, the total number is believed to be around 30,000.
• According to the information given by Turkish Education Minister İsmet Yılmaz, 1,069 private schools were closed.
• Just after the coup attempt, the Government closed 1550 university preparation schools and three hundred one private study centers, and thus, 19,847 people were added to the unemployed list.
• Fifteen private universities, where more than 56,000 students were taking higher education, were also closed, and thus 5,342 people, including 2,465 academicians, lost their jobs.

• 

Due to the current Government’s unlawful and unjust practices in Turkey, the oppression of society, cancellation of teachers’ diplomas, work permits, and passports, hundreds of thousands of people had to leave their country illegally by risking their lives. Unfortunately, some of them, including babies and children, lost their lives during their journeys across the Aegean Sea and Evros River. Some examples which were teachers are as follows:

• Maden family: Mother and father died in the Aegean Sea along with their three children.
• Doğan and Abdulrezzak families died in the Evros river with their children.
• Halil Dinç, who was also a teacher, died of a heart attack in Athens, Greece.

Broken Chalk board member Feride Özer emphasized the fact that the Turkish Government is targeting educators living abroad: “Turkish Foreign Minister has been boastful about the abduction of 100 people from 18 countries by the Turkish National Intelligence Agency. Turkish Government has been abducting teachers from Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Albania, Bulgaria, Gabon, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kosovo, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, Pakistan, and Qatar.

As Broken Chalk, with a reputable community and press members, we believe that teachers should celebrate this day as usual together with their students. Unfortunately, some of them already died under challenging conditions or in exile, and some others died in suspicious ways, armed groups destroyed schools. Teachers have dedicated themselves to their work and continue to educate students and contribute to society and humanity wherever they live. We continue to demand justice for teachers through national and international judiciary. We want to draw the attention of governments, stakeholders, non-governmental organizations, and human rights defenders to fight against the human rights violations educators are facing. We wish all the teachers in the world a Happy Teachers’ Day!”.

LETTERS TO THE DUTCH AUTHORITIES

Broken Chalk organized a letter campaign regarding October 5th, World Teachers’ Day. As part of the campaign, letters were sent by Broken Chalk members to many institutions and individuals, including ministries, NGOs, mayors, school principals, and teachers.

 

Translated from 5 Ekim Dünya Öğretmenler Gününde KHK’lı öğretmenler Hollanda’dan seslendi: ‘Dokunmayın’

Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office, which considers the fulfillment of a constitutional right by the lawyers following the investigation and prosecution procedures of the persons who were prosecuted after the treacherous coup theater of 15 July as a terrorist organization activity, detained a total of 60 jurists, including 48 lawyers, 7 intern lawyers, 3 dismissed judges, 1 dismissed judge candidate, and 1 law school graduate.

Ongoing acts both after 17-25 December 2013 and the treacherous coup theater of 15 July 2016, it has shown how insincere the Erdogan’s regimes’ words were, in which speaking of the rule of law, the presumption of innocence, human rights, justice, and the state of law, and saying that “The rule of law will be essential, not the law of superiors in my country.”

Doctors, nurses, journalists, engineers, lawyers, academicians, teachers, students, athletes, artists, business people and many other segments of the society, who have not even hold a gun and have a single criminal record, have confronted with terrorism accusations in an unlawful manner, regardless of the presumption of innocence, and have been treated as terrorists. Following this, the detention of 60 jurists, who wanted to practice their profession, proved that ‘the Law of the Supreme’ was sovereign in Turkey, in which the democratic understanding of the law has been cut off. The country has passed under a dictatorial rule.

Several bar associations in Turkey have responded to 60 jurists’ detention because of their professional activities. Correspondingly, Şanlıurfa Bar Association has stated the following:

“We state that we are against all kinds of unlawful and biased attempts to intimidate and discredit the defense. We demand the immediate release of our colleagues who were detained just because of their professional activities”.

 

Another reaction to the detention of lawyers came from United Nations Special Rapporteur Diego García-Sayán. Garcia has shared his opinion with the following statement on his Twitter account regarding the detention of the jurists, including 48 lawyers:

“Recent arrests in Turkey of 48 lawyers and 7 intern lawyers aggravate the systematic repression against lawyers and their representative organizations imposed by the government”

and added that “since 2016, more than 1600 lawyers have been arrested and 441 of those lawyers have been convicted”.

Zafer Kurt

18-09-2020

 

2020 Global Education Monitoring Report*, which looks at social, economic, and cultural mechanisms that discriminate against disadvantaged children, youth, and adults, keeping them out of education or marginalized in it. Countries are expanding their vision of inclusion in education to put diversity at the core of their systems. Released at the start of the Decade of Action to 2030, and during the Covid-19 crisis, which has exacerbated underlying inequalities, the report argues that resistance to addressing every learner’s needs is a real threat to achieving global education targets.

 

The commitment of Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) to ensure “inclusive and equitable quality education” and promote “lifelong learning for all” is part of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development pledge to leave no one behind. The agenda promises a “just, equitable, tolerant, open and socially inclusive world in which the needs of the most vulnerable are met” (UN 2015, paragraphs 8 and 9). Social, economic, and cultural factors may complement or run counter to the achievement of equity and inclusion in education. Education offers a key entry point for inclusive societies if policymakers and educators see learner diversity not as a problem but as a challenge.

 

Education systems need to treat every learner with dignity in order to overcome barriers, raise attainment, and improve learning.

 

Inclusive education is commonly associated with the needs of people with disabilities and the relationship between special and mainstream education. Since 1990, the struggle of people with disabilities has shaped the global perspective on inclusion in education, leading to recognition of the right to inclusive education in Article 24 of the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD 2016 ).

 

This follows its 2019 edition, which focused on the closely related topic of inclusion of migrant and displaced populations in national education systems.

 

 

Inclusion in education as a process and result

 

Inclusion in education is, first and foremost, a process contributing to the achievement of the goal of social inclusion. Defining equitable education requires a distinction between “equality” and “equity”. Equality is a state of affairs (what): a result that can be observed in inputs, outputs, or outcomes. Equity is a process (how): actions aimed at ensuring equality. Defining inclusive education is more complicated because the concept conflates process and result.

 

This report argues for thinking of inclusion primarily as a process: actions that embrace diversity and build a sense of belonging, rooted in the belief that every person has value and potential and should be respected, regardless of their background, ability, or identity.

Poverty and inequality are major constraints. According to the World Inequality Database, despite progress in reducing extreme poverty, especially in Asia, it affects 2 in 10 children worldwide, 5 in 10, in sub-Saharan Africa.

 

Progress in education access is stagnating. Globally, an estimated 258 million children, adolescents and youth, or 17% of the total, are not in school. Poverty affects attendance, completion, and learning opportunities. In all regions except Europe and Northern America, adolescents from the richest 20% of households are three times more likely to complete lower secondary school than their peers from the poorest 20%.

 

Those most likely to be excluded from education are also disadvantaged due to language, location, gender, and ethnicity.In at least 20 countries with data, hardly any poor rural young woman completed upper secondary school.

 

Careful planning and provision of inclusive education can deliver improvement in academic achievement, social and emotional development, self-esteem, and peer acceptance. Including diverse students in mainstream classrooms and schools can prevent stigma, stereotyping, discrimination, and alienation. It is a prerequisite for education in, and for, a democracy based on fairness, justice, and equity. It provides a systematic framework for removing barriers according to the principle “every learner matters and matters equally”.

 

Inclusion improves learning for all students and must be the foundation of approaches to teaching and learning.

The 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report asks questions related to key policy solutions, obstacles to implementation, coordination mechanisms, financing channels, and monitoring of inclusive education.

 

The report collects information on how each country, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, addresses the challenge of inclusion in education and recognizes the different contexts and challenges facing countries in providing inclusive education. Its coverage is broad, addressing the albinos in sub-Saharan Africa, the stateless in Arab countries, the displaced Rohingya in Asia, the Roma in Europe, the Afro-descendants in Latin America.

 

It addresses these challenges through seven chapters: laws and policies; data; governance and finance; curriculum, textbooks, and assessments; teachers; schools; and students, parents, and communities.

 

Learner diversity is a strength to celebrate

 

The world has committed to inclusive education, not by chance but because it is the foundation of an education system of good quality that enables every child, youth, and adult to learn and fulfill their potential. Gender, age, location, poverty, disability, ethnicity, indigeneity, language, religion, migration or displacement status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, incarceration, beliefs, and attitudes should not be the basis for discrimination against anyone in education.

 

The prerequisite is to see learner diversity not as a problem but as an opportunity. Education systems need to be responsive to all learners’ needs.

 

 

The report makes 10 recommendations to achieve inclusion targets by the 2030 deadline.

 

 

1. Widen the understanding of inclusive education: It should include all learners, regardless of identity, background or ability.

 

2. Target financing to those left behind: There is no inclusion while millions lack access to education.

 

3. Share expertise and resources: This is the only way to sustain a transition to inclusion.

 

4. Governments should open space for communities to voice their preferences as equals in the design of policies on inclusion in education.

 

5. Ensure cooperation across government departments, sectors, and tiers: Inclusion in education is but a subset of social inclusion.

 

6. Make space for non-government actors to challenge and fill gaps: But also make sure they work toward the same inclusion goal.

 

7. Apply universal design: Ensure inclusive systems fulfill every learner’s potential.

 

8. Prepare, empower, and motivate the education workforce: All teachers should be prepared to teach all students .

 

9. Collect data on and for inclusion with attention and respect: Avoid stigmatizing labeling.

 

10. Learn from peers: A shift to inclusion is not easy.

 

 

 

*https://en.unesco.org/gem-report/report/2020/inclusion

Click for the full report

Summarized by Broken Chalk

 

 

Abdullah Bozkurt*, Sweden-based a Turkish journalist living in exile, was attacked yesterday near his home in Stockholm. Bozkurt is an Executive Director of the Nordic Research Monitoring Network**.  Nordic Research Monitoring Network is a non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness of radical and violent extremists.

 

 

“Within minutes of getting out of my home, one of the three men approached me behind and unexpectedly knocked me down. As I fell to the asphalt pavement, they started punching me in the face and on the head” Bozkurt said, adding that the perpetrators then ran away.

After the attack Bozkurt said; “I know this attack was meant to send me a message due to my journalistic work revealing the injustices and wrongdoings committed in Turkey … I reject this message.”

 

 

*Bozkurt is a journalist and author with over 20 years of experience in journalism. He has served in various capacities in the Turkish media as bureau chief in New York, Washington, D.C., and Ankara. His specialty is covering radical jihadist groups operating in Turkey and its neighborhood.

 

**Nordic Research Monitoring Network is a non-profit organization that aims to raise awareness on radical and violent extremist trends in Europe and beyond, with a specific focus on patterns that may very well disturb and disrupt social peace, harmony, and community integration. It hopes to contribute to the debate on how nations should prevent and combat radicalization with close cooperation and collaboration between all relevant stakeholders at all levels of governance including the NGO community and civil society.

 

 

Mehmet Altan is the son of Cetin Altan* and brother to Ahmet Altan**. All three suffer from undemocratic acts of leaders of their time. His brother Ahmet Altan is still in prison. He worked as an academician at Istanbul University and was dismissed with an emergency decree law from the university; and spent nearly two years behind bars. He wrote an open letter to Robert Spano to the president of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). Spano prepares to arrive in Turkey for a visit this week and receive an honorary doctor degree from the university, which Altan was dismissed.

 

Here is his letter to Spano:

My open letter to Robert Spano, the president of the European Court of Human Rights*** 

Dear President,

There are more than sixty thousand individual applications that have been lodged from Turkey to the European Court of Human Rights. Turkey ranks second after Russia when it comes to violations of rights.

As you know, I am one of the citizens of the Republic of Turkey whose constitutional rights were disregarded. I said as you know because my application was reviewed by the 2nd Section, which at the time was under your presidency.

On 20 March 2018, the 2nd Section of the ECtHR, presided over by you, set a precedent in universal law and ruled that my right to personal liberty and security and my freedom of expression had been violated. Turkey was convicted.

I thank you and the Court you now preside over for this judgment. Law prevailed.

Dear president,

Your judgment concerning me has a place in ECtHR’s history:

Ergin Ergül, who was appointed on behalf of Turkey to that case and was the only judge dissenting, put forward such arguments that you wrote “a dissenting vote” against a dissenting vote, for the first time in the history of ECtHR, if I am not mistaken. And the other members followed you.

It was announced that on September 3 2020 you will be visiting Turkey as the Minister of Justice’s guest.

But what took me aback was to find out that you will be receiving an honorary doctorate from Istanbul University.

I am reminding of the detail above exactly for this reason, to give information on the state of “the judiciary” and “law education.”

I wonder if you keep in mind that Ergin Ergül, against whom, in the name of universal law you found yourself having to cast a dissenting opinion, is a graduate of Istanbul University which will be awarding you an honorary doctorate?

Your secretariat certainly must have informed you that Istanbul University had given an honorary doctorate of law to Kenan Evren too.

Dear President,

I taught for 30 years at Istanbul University, where you will be receiving a “honorary law doctorate.” And I became a professor there 27 years ago.

I heard on television that I had been dismissed from the university through a statutory decree on 29 October 2016, while I was in my cell in prison, a month after I was detained as a result of the violation of three articles of the constitution. The people who will be giving you an honorary doctorate are the very people who dismissed me and many other academics.

I was not released despite the Constitutional Court’s judgment finding violations of three separate constitutional rights and ordering my release. To top it off, right afterwards I was sentenced to aggravated life in prison. Even after the judgment by the ECtHR, presided over by you, held that there had been a violation of my rights, the 2nd Criminal Chamber of the Istanbul Regional Court of Justice upheld my conviction. I mean to say that the event of such judicial scandals is not unusual.

Ultimately however, on 4 November 2019, I was acquitted and my acquittal became final after the Court of Cassation ruled for my acquittal.

But my ongoing case concerning my dismissal from the university is still waiting to be taken up by the Ankara 21st Administrative Court. In that case, the accused is Istanbul University, where you will be receiving your honorary doctorate.

Despite being acquitted, despite the judgments by the Constitutional Court and the ECtHR, I have not been able to return to my university where you will be receiving an honorary doctorate.

The university from which you will be receiving your doctorate, is “the accused institution” in the trials brought by many academics who were dismissed through a statutory decree as I was.

These proceedings are ongoing and it is likely that they will also be brought before the ECHR that you preside over. But in the meantime you will have become a Judge who has received an honorary doctorate from Istanbul University. I’m not sure how gratifying it would be to become a honorary member of a university, which has unjustly kicked out and forced into unemployment and poverty hundreds of academics.

Under normal circumstances, of course it would be pleasing to hear that you will be visiting Turkey. Unfortunately that’s not the case.

Dear President,

The ECtHR, under your presidency, guarantees protection of the freedoms and rights enshrined in the European Convention on Human Rights.

We want to believe that ECtHR of which you are the president secures the rights of everyone under its jurisdiction.

It is hard to say that our faith always remains intact.

The very section of the Court that you presided had given priority status to the application of Ahmet Altan, whose novels have been published in 23 countries, and who, even despite the Covid-19 pandemic has remained behind bars in Silivri Prison for the past four years. Even though the court is very much familiar with the file’s content, unfortunately we have been waiting for that priority to come into effect for the past four years.

And of course we are very much aware of the efforts being made to prevent the review of Ahmet Altan’s application and to ensure that no definitive judgment finding rights violations is made when it is taken up. But just as this is not the appropriate place to discuss this, I rather not comment on this further.

Indisputably, you are free to make your own choices. And it is clear that every one of your choices will reflect onto future decisions and bring forth new consequences.

I would like to extend an early welcome to Turkey, where you will be visiting as the President of an international high court, built upon a convention, to which victims of the judiciary have high hopes attached.

Sincerely.

31.08.2020

MEHMET ALTAN

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%87etin_Altan

** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmet_Altan

*** https://www.expressioninterrupted.com/open-letter-to-president-of-the-european-court-of-human-rights/

From September 24, 2018, when he was diagnosed with cancer until May 7, 2020, when he died, the story of two years of resistance, suffering, and persecution.

Ahmed Burhan Atac, the children of Zekiye-Harun Reha Ataç, was diagnosed with bone cancer on September 24, 2018. When he was diagnosed, his father was under arrest. Ahmet’s 2-year struggle for his life reflects Turkey’s recent grim years.

On February 20, 2018, while Ahmet was playing games with his friends in the nursery school. His mother, Zekiye Atac, his father Harun Reha Atac, and his little sister were taken to the police station. Ahmet was only six years old. Mrs. Atac, who was laid off during the state of emergency, was detained for 14 days. She was released after being detained for another 2.5 months. Mr. Atac was banned from teaching with a statutory decree. After being arrested for 13 days, he was arrested on charges of being a member of a terrorist organization. One of the reason was, he was a director in a private dormitory which was affiliated with the Gulen movement. The period Ahmet has been without his parents for three months coincides with the onset of his cancer.

NO DISCOUNT FOR YOU!

Harun Reha Atac, who was on trial at the Adana 2nd High Criminal Court, was sentenced to 9 years and nine months in prison. Two months after his son was diagnosed with cancer. On November 30, 2018, according to the medical reports, Ahmet was diagnosed with cancer and started chemotherapy, were submitted to the 2nd High Criminal Court of Adana, and a legal request was made regarding Mr. Atac’s release pending trial until the Supreme Court decision. Adana 2nd High Criminal Court President ruled on Harun Reha Atac’s detention by saying, “I have no remission whatsoever for you.”

Ahmet was taken to treatment at Cukurova University Hospital. When he did not recover with chemotherapy and radiotherapy, he had an operation in July 2019, and the tumor in his shoulder blade was cleaned. However, during controls performed in September 2019, it was determined that cancer spread to his lung.

Mother Zekiye Atac said, “We had an interim evaluation this week. A tumor of 4 cm. in size was detected in the lung. Doctors were also shocked to see such growth and spread in such a short time. I am helpless. My son is dying before my eyes. ” Following the mother’s comments and Ahmet’s emotional video in which he wished his father was by his side, the story of Ahmet attracted attention on social media.

LET HIM BEAT CANCER WITH HIS FATHER

A campaign was launched on social media for Ahmet’s father to be tried without arrest and to be with his son during the treatment process.

Mother Zekiye Atac said, “We had a phone call in the morning with his father in prison, but Ahmet did not want to talk to his father on the phone. Because he couldn’t stand it, but then he asked me, “What did my father say?”. Please, Lord, let him come on his own, not on the phone.” Thousands of social media users showed support with hashtags like “Let Him Beat Cancer With His Father,” and Ahmet’s story got recognized on a national level.

AHMET’S MOTHER GOT DETAINED

While the sharp criticism over the court order against Mr. Atac’s release continued, Mrs. Zekiye Atac was detained for the second time on October 15, 2019. Ahmet was left without a father and a mother. Zekiye Atac was accused of being a ‘member of the terrorist organization’ because she accepted the donations for the treatment of his son, said Mrs. Atac’s relatives. Zekiye Atac was released on bail the next day, after public outrage regarding her detention.

A HOPE OF TREATMENT ABROAD

As Ahmet’s disease progressed, his doctors directed the family to Germany, saying that he could be treated at the Immuno-Oncology Center in Cologne, Germany. Upon contacting the clinic, it was stated that Ahmet could be processed, provided that he is transferred promptly. The family did not have the economic power to cover the expenses. Only after it was announced that a business person would cover the costs of the first stage of the treatment, Ahmet flew to Germany on January 20, 2020. Mrs. Atac could not accompany his son because of her overseas travel ban. Gülsüm Atac, Ahmet’s 70-year-old grandmother, accompanied him.

 

FUNDRAISING IN 24 HOURS

Human Rights Defender Arlet Natali Avazyan, who closely followed Ahmet’s case, stepped in and started a charity campaign on Twitter on January 24, 2020, for treatment expenses. The required 50 thousand euros was raised within 24 hours.

 

MRS. ATAC EXPRESSES GRATITUDE

Mother Atac stated that raising the money necessary for the treatment under 24 hours was very moving. She added: “I would like to thank Mrs. Natali and all those contributed for their financial and moral support. Now I believe more firmly that my son will be treated. I think he will recover and be with us again. “

He was saying that her husband, who is in prison, is pleased that Ahmet went to Germany for treatment. Mrs. Atac added, “I will inform him that the money needed for treatment is raised during our phone call tomorrow. He will be pleased with that. Because all he thinks about is his son”.

APPEAL AGAINST THE OVERSEAS TRAVEL BAN

Mother Atac intensified her attempts to lift the overseas travel ban and to get a passport. However, the prosecution did not raise the ban.

But Ahmet, apart from his mother in Germany, was always crying. His mood was very poor, and therefore he did not respond to the treatment at the desired level. Mete Atakul, a businessman who hosted Ahmet at his home in Germany, said that Ahmet did not even eat properly because of his grief.

TRIPLE TRAVEL BAN

Thanks to intense public pressure, Zekiye Atac’s ban on overseas travel was lifted by court order in February 2020. However, upon the objection made by the prosecutor’s office, the court re-imposed the ban for the second time.

After Mrs. Atac’s failed attempt to meet Ahmet in Germany, Ahmet returned to Turkey to see his mother on February 8, during the two-week break of his treatment.

As a result of the attempts made by Natali Avazyan and HDP MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, Mrs. Atac’s ban on overseas travel was lifted again on February 21, 2020. The German Embassy quickly issued a visa to Mrs. Atac.

On March 2, 2020, Zekiye Atac was stopped once again while flying to Germany from Istanbul Airport with Ahmet. Mother Atac learned at the airport that this time, the 7th High Criminal Court of Mersin issued a travel ban for the third time.

“YOU ARE KILLING MY SON COLLECTIVELY”

Zekiye Atac posted a video on her social media account with the note “You are killing my son collectively”: “We are in Istanbul now. We flew from Adana to Istanbul this morning for our connecting flight to Cologne. Still, unfortunately, the police confiscated my passport. Passport and visas had been issued, but unfortunately, they re-imposed the ban the next day. Ahmet should be in Cologne tomorrow. He needs to catch up with his treatment. His condition is not well. Please, I want this dilemma resolved!”

AHMET FLIES TO GERMANY WITH HIS MOTHER

Ahmet and his mother stayed at the airport to solve the problem. Public outrage sparked over social media. Singer and philanthropist Haluk Levent announced that he had talked to Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu. The next day, on March 3, 2020, the travel ban was lifted again, and Ahmet flew to Cologne with his mother.

IT WAS TOO LATE

Time lost because of judicial processes worsened Ahmet’s health. He had many fractures in his leg bones, his blood test values decreased, and he did not respond to treatment.

Doctors in Cologne stated that Ahmet’s blood values ​​were critically low and that his body could not bear the treatment, and it was too late.

Ahmet and his mother moved back to Turkey on March 11, 2020.

Mother Atac said that the doctors informed her that Ahmet’s blood values ​​have fallen too low since the first treatment. He should gather strength to continue the second stage of the procedure.

PHONE CALL BETWEEN FATHER AND SON

A campaign was held for the father to be tried without arrest. On March 27, 2020, the record of a telephone conversation between Ahmet and his father was published.

During the conversation, Ahmet wants his father to ‘come.’ He cries: “Come here now. I can’t stand it anymore.” His father, Harun Atac, replies: “My son, I can’t come. I want to go as well, but I can’t, son. They don’t let me out, my baby. “

A MEETING OF 5 HOURS

After the massive effect of the record, the same day prosecutor’s office allowed Mr. Atac to meet Ahmet for 5 hours for the first time. For a 5-hour meeting, father Harun Atac came to the hospital where Ahmet was.

After meeting his father, photos of Ahmet sleeping with a smile on his face in a long time were published.

All the appeals for Mr. Atac’s release pending trial were subsequently denied.

THE SECOND CAMPAIGN TO BOOST MORALE: I LOVE AHMET

Arlet Natali Avazyan started a new campaign to boost Ahmet’s morale. Social media users said, ‘I love Ahmet’ with the videos and messages they shared. The hashtag campaign launched by Avazyan on social media grew immensely. Celebrities and famous social media users shared supportive videos.

INTENSIVE CARE: FATHER NOT ALLOWED

Ahmet’s condition worsened every day, and eventually, he was taken into intensive care on May 6, 2020. Doctors put Ahmet to sleep.

Permission was asked from the prosecutor’s office for the father Harun Reha Atac, who was detained in Tarsus Prison to see Ahmet for the last time. Those who accompany the family said that Harun Atac was not allowed to be with his son on that night when Ahmet was in intensive care, but only the following day.

SUCCUMBED TO CANCER

At the end of his battle against the bone cancer he was diagnosed with under the conditions of ’emergency state,’ Ahmet had three heart failures. During the early hours of May 7, 2020, Ahmet passed away…

 

*Translated by Broken Chalk team from https://aktifhaber.com/gundem/el-birligiyle-oldurulen-cocuk-ahmet-burhan-atacin-hayati-h145081.html