Let Us Not Forget!.. Our Future Was Stolen by These Murders...

Today, we were at the Ankara Karşıyaka Cemetery for the anniversary of two great sorrows. 21 years ago, on December 18, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu, who fell victim to a cowardly assassination, and 14 years ago, on December 19, Teacher Lieutenant Colonel Ali Tatar, who chose to end his life rather than surrender to conspiracies in order to awaken the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), were commemorated at their gravesides.

While his wife Şengül Hablemitoğlu could not attend the ceremony held for Academician-Author Assoc. Prof. Dr. Necip Hablemitoğlu because she was abroad, İYİ Party Deputy Chairman and Tekirdağ MP Selcan Taşçı Hamşıoğlu, the Hablemitoğlu family's lawyer Ersan Barkın, Hakan Evrensel, who has worked as a journalist, author, and screenwriter since leaving the TSK, as well as his students and friends, gathered at Hablemitoğlu's graveside.

THE HABLEMİTOĞLU CASE MUST BE UPHELD

İYİ Party Deputy Chairman Hamşıoğlu stated that she read Hablemitoğlu's books with enthusiasm while she was a student at the university, saying, “We always feel his absence, especially these days. I condemn those who have left the Hablemitoğlu case abandoned and left it in the dark. We must all work together to find the perpetrator.”

Expressing that beyond the important work Hablemitoğlu did, he had lost an older brother, Hakan Evrensel explained that for 21 years, whenever he felt overwhelmed, he would consult him in a corner of his mind as if he were still there, and that he missed him very much.

The Hablemitoğlu family's lawyer, Ersan Barkın, emphasized that political institutions aspiring to govern the country must take ownership of this case, pointing out that Turkey learned of the dangers Hablemitoğlu highlighted by experiencing them on July 15; he noted that with the massacre of our intellectuals such as Hablemitoğlu, Bahriye Üçok, Muammer Aksoy, Ahmet Taner Kışlalı, and Tarık Dursun, our right to a future was taken from our hands.

“AS LONG AS WE EXIST, LACK OF CONSCIENCE WILL NOT PREVAIL"

The ceremony held at the graveside of Teacher Lieutenant Colonel Ali Tatar, who became a martyr for justice by choosing death 14 years ago when he was about to be arrested for the second time due to conspiracy cases, was attended by his wife Nilüfer Tatar, his brother Ahmet Tatar, his sister Hürriyet Ünver, as well as Nihal Olçok, whose husband and son were murdered on July 15, CHP Deputy Chairmen Veli Ağbaba and Yankı Bağcıoğlu, İYİ Party Deputy Chairman Selcan Taşçı Hamşıoğlu, TESUD President Erdoğan Karakuş, members of the Vardiya Bizde Platform and KUMPASDER, the Hablemitoğlu family's lawyer Ersan Barkın, and many of Tatar's fellow soldiers and prison friends.

In his speech, his brother Ahmet Tatar listed what has happened to the country from the past to the present by saying “Who would have thought” and summarized as follows:

“Has anyone seen the public become impoverished in such a short time, experiencing scarcity amidst abundance; has anyone seen such a great fire in the markets and bazaars? Are we at war, are we in a famine; does anyone know? The process in which organized ignorance is sanctified and provoked, its people are divided and torn apart, looking at each other with evil eyes and clashing even on the most vital issues, has worked so fast and someone has lulled us to sleep so deeply that, although it is very painful to even speak of, we are going through days where Mustafa Kemal Atatürk’s Nutuk (Speech) is being put on trial. So much so that we are trying to normalize and live with many sick, bad conditions that we never thought of or could even imagine. However, no matter what anyone says, none of these things we are experiencing are ordinary or normal situations. It is certainly not a state that can be accepted or gotten used to. We did not spare our words from anyone. I wish our words had been effective so that the July 15 disaster could have been prevented. I wish someone had not seen the July 15 treacherous coup attempt as a 'gift from God' and had not overturned our country's democracy, law, and justice, which were working for better or worse, and had not brought the economy to this state. I wish we hadn't been looking for money door to door. But unfortunately, all of this happened right before our eyes and we could not prevent it. But now we have to look ahead, learn lessons from the past, and produce solutions to get out of this trap without falling into despair. The homeland is our home. As long as we exist, the darkness of ignorance, lawlessness, injustice, and lack of conscience will not prevail in this country! We will not allow this.”

Ali Tatar's wife, Nilüfer Tatar, expressed her satisfaction with the increasing crowd at the commemoration ceremonies every year, especially the youth, saying, “I told the conspiracy prosecutors and police, 'You will be tried.' Yes, cases were opened; but some fled, some are being tried without arrest, and they continue to speak while looking us in the eye. We want them to receive the punishments they deserve.”

CHP Deputy Chairman Veli Ağbaba, after conveying the solidarity wishes of Chairman Özgür Özel, who could not attend the ceremony because he was in Manisa, described the work they did during the conspiracy period and noted the following:

“Wherever we were that day, we are at the same point today. They did to the Turkish Army with court decisions what the enemy did not do. The path to July 15 was opened, and this dark period has still not been illuminated. It is time to unite our sorrows, not divide them. It is very valuable that Nihal Olçok is also here. We will continue the struggle for justice together.”

İYİ Party Deputy Chairman Selcan Taşçı Hamşıoğlu, in her speech delivered with a trembling voice and teary eyes, said, “We know very well what is what. I tried to announce what was happening by following the cases as a journalist. While watching those cases, I understood how our future was darkening, and after I had a child, I understood what kind of darkness our children were born into. It could have been prevented, we cried out; but we could not make our voices heard from those halls. Politicians did not take a lesson from this either; but I did, I will not be like those politicians. We owe a debt to hundreds of mothers, fathers, and children. We must not create new debtors.”

Those who attended Ali Tatar's commemoration ceremony later visited the grave of Naval Staff Colonel Murat Özenalp, who was also arrested in the conspiracy cases and passed away on May 1, 2014, after suffering a brain hemorrhage while playing with his children in Mamak Prison.