The pains of injustice united here

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Tatar, a martyr for justice who gave his life to fight against the injustices and lawlessness experienced during the Ergenekon conspiracy, was commemorated at his graveside in Ankara’s Karşıyaka Cemetery on the 15th anniversary of his passing. This year’s commemoration ceremony was attended by Ayşe Ateş, the wife of former Idealist Hearths (Ülkü Ocakları) President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Ateş, who was murdered in the middle of Ankara two years ago, as well as the wife and daughters of publisher İlhan Erdost, who was killed in Mamak Prison during the 1980 coup. Ayşe Ateş stated, “Our enemy is one, our struggle is one. You will always see us shoulder to shoulder until justice is served.” Meanwhile, İYİ Party Deputy Chair and Tekirdağ MP Selcan Taşçı asked the AKP, which has admitted that Ergenekon was a “conspiracy,” the following: “If you were not part of that conspiracy, shouldn’t at least one person have been here to apologize and pray?”

At the ceremony, which was attended by the late Ali Tatar’s family, his comrades-in-arms, members of the 'Vardiya Bizde' (The Shift is Ours) Platform, CHP and İYİ Party MPs, and Çankaya Mayor Hüseyin Can Güner—most notably Samiye Özenalp, the mother of Naval Staff Colonel Murat Özenalp who lost his life while in Mamak Prison during the Balyoz conspiracy—his older brother Ahmet Tatar recounted his brother’s life story and the process of the conspiracy established against the Turkish Armed Forces (TSK), stating in summary:

“Whatever the reason was yesterday for hundreds of officers to be torn from the army and left to rot in prisons through these conspiracies, that is the same reason today for lieutenants who say ‘We are the soldiers of Mustafa Kemal’ to be portrayed as criminals and threatened with dismissal. 15 years have passed since Lieutenant Colonel Ali Tatar’s rebellion. We try to breathe life into his rebellion at every opportunity to ensure that he and his struggle are not forgotten. However, our country cannot seem to emerge from the darkness it entered in those days. A whole nation cannot wake up from the nightmare it began to see back then. Instead of repairing the destruction FETÖ caused in the state, correcting the broken justice system, and establishing the rule of law and democracy, our country continues to tumble into an even worse chaos and darkness. Lawlessness and injustice have brought economic collapse with them. Public resources are being plundered. While broad masses of the public are condemned to poverty, a new teenage millionaire pops up on every street corner. The Palace and its circle never want to give up luxury and ostentation. If we are witnessing today that babies are being abandoned to death in hospitals for money, or that our children are being handed over to religious sects in schools, the reason for this is the broken state order. Those who do not raise their voices against the neutralization of Parliament, the trampling of the Constitution, and the non-implementation of court rulings can invite Apo to Parliament. They are trying to dictate the one-man regime to the nation as if it were destiny. But they are mistaken. Those who think they can manipulate the honorable citizens of the Republic of Turkey as they wish, or make them settle for less by threatening them with death, will surely see that they are wrong in the very near future. Because no matter what they do, they will not be able to make this nation settle for less in terms of bread, law, or democracy. They will not be able to condemn the youth of this country to mediocrity, poverty, and darkness with superstitions that they cannot even make their own children believe. There is no end to Lieutenant Colonel Ali Tatars in this country. No power can erase the light of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk from this country or his love from the hearts of this nation. Just as it did a hundred years ago, our faith that this nation will shake itself off, cast off the shroud of death upon it, and get rid of its dead weight is full, and our hopes for the future are more alive than ever.”

''SADULLAH ERGİN WAS IN PARLIAMENT LAST NIGHT''

Lieutenant Colonel Ali Tatar’s wife, Nilüfer Tatar, said, “15 years is easy to say. Our pain has not ended, it has not diminished. Ali left us an important legacy; he became an important light. He sacrificed himself during this process. Time passes, the little ones grow up, memories weaken—they are weakening memories. We must not allow this; we need to revive memories.”

Emphasizing that he witnessed Ali Tatar’s love for his country when he was a First Lieutenant, CHP Deputy Chair and retired Rear Admiral Yankı Bağcıoğlu commemorated those who lost their lives in the conspiracies, especially Murat Özenalp, Cem Aziz Çakmak, Soner Polat, and Kaşif Kozinoğlu, and spoke as follows:

“Justice was never served. The trials are continuing, but the perpetrators are not being brought to light. FETÖ is the most insidious organization, but it currently continues to leave its traces in state institutions.”

İYİ Party Deputy Chair and Tekirdağ MP Selcan Taşçı also noted that the Minister of Justice of that period, Sadullah Ergin, was in Parliament last night and that the conspiracies were being discussed, stating:

“The government called it a ‘conspiracy.’ Conspiracy is a heavy term. To show that they were not a part of this, shouldn’t at least one person have been here to apologize and pray? Everything continues to be nothing but theater, and the lawlessness continues. The system needs to change so that these injustices are not repeated.”

''WE WERE BURNED IN THE SAME PLACE''

Finally, Ayşe Ateş, the wife of former Idealist Hearths President Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sinan Ateş, whom older brother Ahmet Tatar invited to speak with the words, “A murder committed in plain sight in the middle of Ankara. We are all a little guilty; we are experiencing the shame of not being able to provide at least a verbal response to what is happening,” said the following:

“We are facing a situation where words are insufficient. I condemn the treacherous terrorist organization FETÖ, which slaughtered the children of this homeland. Our pain is so great that it is indescribable. We were burned in the same place. Our enemy is one, and our struggle is one. You will always see us shoulder to shoulder until we see that justice is served. I also want to remind you; the state has no religion, the state’s religion is justice. Please, let them realize this now.”

After the prayers were recited, his comrades-in-arms, together with Samiye Özenalp, the mother of Naval Staff Colonel Murat Özenalp who passed away after suffering a brain hemorrhage while in Mamak Prison during the Balyoz conspiracy, also visited Özenalp’s grave.

May they rest in peace.

Müyesser YILDIZ

December 21, 2024