Saturday Mothers asked about the fate of Veysel Güney in the 1054th week

Saturday Mothers, who are searching for their relatives who disappeared in custody, asked about the fate of Veysel Güney in Galatasaray Square in the 1054th week.

Saturday Mothers, who have been protesting in Istanbul-Beyoğlu since 1995, asking about the fate of their relatives who disappeared in custody and demanding the prosecution of the perpetrators, left carnations in Galatasaray Square this week (June 7, 2025) and read their statements.

Saturday Mothers demanded justice for Veysel Güney, who disappeared in custody in the 1054th week.

The explanation is as follows:

In our 1054th week, we are in front of the iron barriers that separate us from our meeting place with our lost ones. Today is a holiday… While everyone is spending time with their loved ones on this holiday, we are in Galatasaray asking where our loved ones who were lost in custody are. While everyone is visiting their graves on this holiday, we do not have a grave to visit.

We are here to leave the carnations that we could not leave on the graves of our loved ones who were lost in custody, in Galatasaray Square, which has become the symbol of our losses. On this holiday, we want a state structure that considers itself responsible for establishing a just legal order and maintaining this order so that holidays can be a means of celebration for everyone.

This week, we are asking where Zeynep and Ali Güney left off: “Where is Veysel Güney?” 24-year-old Veysel Güney was detained after being injured during a house raid in Gaziantep on December 28, 1980, following the September 12 military coup.

He was tried at the Adana Region Martial Law Command No. 2 Military Court. Veysel Güney's request for a lawyer was rejected and his right to defense was ignored. The first hearing was held on February 6, 1981 and in the second hearing held on February 17, 1981, he was sentenced to death without evidence to prove the accusations against him. He was executed in Gaziantep E Type Prison on June 10, 1981, by a special law passed without a parliamentary decision.

After Veysel was executed, the pen, cigarettes and lighter he had on him were handed over to his father, Ali Güney, along with the report. His lifeless body, which was handed over to Captain Burhan Erdem to be given to his father with the report numbered 266 and dated 10.06.1981, was lost.

25 years after Veysel's execution, the prosecutor who took his first statement and was present at his execution, Mete Göktürk, wrote a book called 'Have You Seen Justice?' In the book, Göktürk explained that they had no evidence to accuse Veysel Güney and that he also had doubts that the trial was conducted impartially and fairly.

His family and friends have struggled for years to find Veysel's grave. All authorities have been contacted, campaigns have been run and legal battles have been waged. Members of Parliament have repeatedly brought the issue to the agenda of the Parliament with parliamentary questions. However, Veysel's gravesite has still not been learned.

Veysel's family and friends who followed his trail found out in 2006 that the last record of the Gaziantep Cemeteries Directorate, dated June 9, 1981, stated that a person of "unknown identity" was "executed" and buried in grave number 105341.

The grave in question was opened by the decision of the Gaziantep 5th Criminal Court of First Instance. The bone samples taken from the grave were sent to the Ankara Forensic Medicine Institute. In the identification study conducted by the Biology Specialization Department, a report was prepared stating that no blood relation could be established between the mother Zeynep and the father Ali Güney through the samples.

There have been deep doubts in the public and the Güney family about whether this report reflects the truth or whether the samples sent to Forensic Medicine are accurate. Mother Zeynep Güney, who said in 2012, “I drew my son’s picture in my eyes, wrote his name on my tongue, carved his grave in my heart,” and father Ali Güney, who left the struggle to reach their son’s grave and justice to their children and grandchildren in 2014, passed away.

In its 44th year, we call on the judicial authorities once again to initiate an effective legal process regarding the execution and disappearance of Veysel Güney. On this holiday, we call on those who govern the state to fulfill their obligations regarding finding the disappeared in custody, explaining their fate, punishing the perpetrators and ensuring justice.

On the occasion of the holiday, we address our loved ones who were lost in custody: We will not forget you and will not let you be forgotten; we will keep you alive in our minds, in our resistance, in our words… No matter how many years pass, we will not give up demanding justice for Veysel Güney, for all our losses; we will not give up reminding that the state must act within the norms of universal law.”