Rabia Önver

 

Nine Kurdish refugees, who were detained in İstanbul on August 22 and handed over to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) after legally coming to Turkey from Pave city of Iran’s Kermanshah province, have been held captive for 128 days. All attempts by the families of Mobin Veledbeygi, Mesud Hayderî, Bahman Shadruvan, Siyaveş Paksereşt, Afşar Rustemî, Bahmen Şadravan, Hidayet Ruxzadî, Said Ahmedî and Fardin Dervişpur, who are still held captive, remained inconclusive. The mothers, who protested in front of the Turkish Embassy in Tehran a short time ago, were not allowed to meet with any official. The families could only convey their demands as written to the embassy.

While they are unable to obtain information about where the captives are being held, families want their children to be released.

 

On December 15, Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP) MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu submitted a parliamentary question to the Speaker’s Office of Parliament regarding the situation of nine Kurdish refugees handed over to the FSA by Turkey.

 

‘I am searching for my child’

 

Afşar Rustemi’s mother, Pervana Elîzade (63), said that they have no knowledge about what their children are going through and that they are worried about their lives. Pervana said, ‘’As families, we have been waiting for news from our children for months. Everyone is waiting for their children in pain. Since the FSA soldiers are in the hands of Assad, they want their soldiers to be released in exchange for our children. Many people told us that our children would be released, but no one kept their word. I am a mother and I feel pain so much. I live alone at home and have no one. I am going mountain to mountain and searching for my child. My spouse passed away 16 years ago and I raised my children with my own efforts. I became both mother and father to them’’.

 

‘We couldn’t meet with anyone who is authorized’

 

Stating that they applied to Iran’s Turkish Embassy, but they could not get any results, Pervana said, ‘’We were on vigil there for two days as families, but no one met with us. We couldn’t meet with anyone who is authorized. All I want is that everyone, especially human rights institutions and journalists, to help, and for our children to be brought to us safely’’.

 

‘There is mourning atmosphere in our house’

 

Siyaveş Paksereşt’s mother, Nûkre Golamî (67), reacted to the situation by stating that she had not heard from her child for four months. Nûkre said that they thought the people who arrested were being held in a prison in Azez, but that they did not have any information about where or how they were at the moment. Nûkre continued, ‘’All our attempts have been inconclusive so far. There has been mourning atmosphere in our house since the day our children disappeared. We can neither eat nor sleep. We are mothers and we miss our children. Our children were arrested innocently. All we want is for our children to return home safely’’.