Cevheri Güven, an exiled Turkish journalist who live in Greece, wrote in online news outlet Kronos that the parents and relatives of the Maden Family,
whose 5 members drowned in Aegean Sea as they flee to a Greek island,
are supporters of ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) of Turkey’s
autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and they are so scared to go
to Greece to follow the aftermath of their funeral.
“I suppose even the relatives of those who drown while escaping from
Syria were not so scared of the Assad regime,” wrote Güven and added
“This is a striking example in terms of understanding the situation in
Turkey.”
Cevheri Güven’s striking article on the tragedy of Maden Family is as follow:
“Hüseyin Maden and Nur Maden, who sailed on the Aegean waters
exactly 23 days ago, were teachers like the others… Just two teachers,
who were dismissed from their profession with decree law (KHK) no. 675…
A few days ago, when one man and two children’s bodies washed up
on the Mytilene beach, the public found out the story of Hüseyin Maden.
However, the Turkish refugees in Greece had been searching for them for
days. With hope… Maybe they were caught by the coast guards, may be
detained in a small camp…
Three corpses; an 8-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and a man
washed up on the shore. No one presumed that they were the ones, perhaps
they were some other people. All the hopes have been exhausted when the
daily Greek newspapers announced that the identity card of the man
belonged to Hüseyin Maden.
Aegean Sea still did not give the mother and the middle child
back… Would there be anyone searching for them in the sea? That is also
unknown… They are just a few of them from tens of thousands of refugees
running away from the dictators. Are they worth the cost of fuel of any
coast guard boat? The abandoned two teachers and their children…
Thousands of victims in the same conditions due to KHK, the slaughtering
tool of the (Turkish) government… And we celebrate the Teachers Day, as
if…
I have known hundreds of Turkish refugees since the emergency has
been declared by Turkey. Almost all are teachers. Why would a regime be
so hostile to teachers in particular? I think the answer is hidden in
the ignorance seizing the power in Turkey. Turkish refugees have been
searching for the funerals of the Maden family for days in Greece. We
came to know that the corpses were deformed when they came out of the
salt water. According to the procedure, DNA samples were taken and then
they were buried. On this news, we asked the place of the graves in
order to perform funeral prayer on the graveside. We encountered
thousands of bureaucratic obstacles.
The official authorities did not provide information to anyone
but the same surname. The parents and relatives of the family are
supporters of ruling party AKP in Turkey. They are even so scared to
come to Greece to follow the aftermath of the funeral. I suppose even
the relatives of those who drown while escaping from the Assad regime
were not so scared of the Assad regime. This is a striking example in
terms of understanding the situation in Turkey.
At the end of the day, as Turkish refugees we are struggling to
find where the funerals were buried and ensure that the mother and
daughter in the Aegean Sea to be found along with the Greek human rights
defenders and Greek journalist friends. On the teachers day, we were
unable to visit the grave of Hüseyin teacher with a bunch of flowers in
foreign lands. With this embarrassment, on the teachers day, I am
apologizing from Hüseyin teacher and Nur teacher. Perhaps his son would
have extended a bunch of flowers to the teacher father. Instead of shame
for all of us.”
