I'm Mehmet Alkan. I served in the Armed Forces as a gendarme officer for 22 years. In 2016, I was dismissed from the Armed Forces with KHK #672. One of my siblings was a martyr. I am the older brother of the martyr Captain Ali Alkan. At the same time, I am law school graduate. I worked as attorney for a few months. But soon, the Justice Department banned this as well. Now, I am no longer able to work as attorney. I work in the “Martyr Captain Ali Alkan Foundation” which we founded in the name of my brother to provide educational support. Other than that, I'm considered to be retired. That's how we keep struggling. What is executed to us?
You're being dismissed with KHK at midnight. No interrogation, no defense, no questions. You don't know the reason. You find out later that this was because of your activities that were completely legal.
You are not given the right to life. It's called civil death. In full terms, it is "Enemy Criminal Law".
It's all done for the purpose of revenge, inflicting pain, or tormenting. This is even beyond enemy criminal law. “Let's dismiss him as terrorist first.
If he is blameless, innocent, and can prove it, maybe he returns to work before he dies.”
Unfortunately, this is how the process literally. A significant number of people are in prisons because of legal activities. Moreover, there are women, children, aunts, grandma, and grandparents among them.
All these people are in prison as terrorists. The first issue here is what we call "KHK", the example of which we may see less in history or never. “Decree having force of the Law”, invented in 2016. I call it "murder of the law by decree".
That's what it means. So, the Law was slaughtered by the decrees with Statutory Decrees.
Sometimes I think to myself. If this is the case, that we don't have any rights. We have no right to life. It's better to be a refugee in this country. Then I say, “All of us, all the KHK people and relatives, file a petition.” Let's file, “Revoke our citizenship. Put us on refugee status and let us have refugee rights”. By being refugee, people would go and benefit from health care at least, when they, their kids or spouses get sick.
Recently the minister made a statement, "we took about 100,000 Syrian refugees." However, 150,000 people are de facto deprived of citizenship. They have no human and civil right. Moreover, in Istanbul mayor elections, the ruling party set up a reason to cancel the election: “14,000 KHK people voted in Istanbul elections. They can't vote.”
We're citizens. The government of this country is telling us, “You can't even vote.”
Is that acceptable? It's never acceptable. My advice to all friends is this:
The people listed on the KHK lists who have not participated in any illegal action, acts of violence, acts of terror are innocent, blameless. You're not terrorists.
Being a terrorist can't be that easy. At the moment, unfortunately, courts continue to generate terrorists from ordinary people. You're not terrorists.
You people have done nothing to be ashamed of or to fear. My advice to you is to make your struggle on the legal grounds. Don't be afraid. Don’t hold yourselves back. What could be worse?
It is said to me, “Don't talk too much.” I say, “What’s the worst that can happen?” The most that can be done is being put into jail. Let them do that, too. Without doing more, the persecution would not be completed.
Better live and die in prison with dignity than live outside in quiet and fear.
0 Comments