'We will finish what they started'

2015-07-23 11:29:22

ISTANBUL (DİHA) -  In Istanbul yesterday, crowds gathered to bury three women killed in the Suruç bombing on Monday.

The three women had all headed to the town of Suruç together on Monday as part of a group of youth activists from the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF). They were announcing their plan to travel to the city of Kobanê to take part in its reconstruction by helping construct parks, museums and nurseries. That was when a bomb exploded at the activists' press conference, killing 32.

Ece Dinç was the district director for the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) in Istanbul's Kadıköy neighborhood. Women were in the frontlines of the march that carried Ece Dinç to her final resting place yesterday. The crowd chanted, "from Arîn, to Ece, we're walking to revolution." The chant referred to the YPJ fighter Arîn Mîrxan, who sacrificed her life in the defense of Kobanê from Daesh siege. 

"Our rage is greater than our pain," said Özgür Bedel, a member of the SGDF, speaking at the ceremony. Elif Tura, a survivor of the explosion, and Sultan Ulusoy, co-chair of the Socialist Party of the Oppressed (ESP), also spoke at the ceremony.

"We will work to share all the world's toys with children. We will finish the work they started," promised Fiden Yüksekdağ, the co-chair of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP), speaking at the ceremony. Her eyes filled with tears as she promised, "We will, all together, build Kobanê."

Hatice Ezgi Sadet was an art history student at Istanbul's Mimar Sinan University. Hatice Ezgi was buried in Istanbul's Ihlamurkuyu Cemevi (Alevi house of worship) yesterday with the attendance of HDP and Republican People's Party (CHP) representatives. Hatice Ezgi's father, Ali Sadet, spoke at the ceremony, saying his daughter was watching them. Thousands marched with Hatice Ezgi's coffin to the Çırçır Cemetery, chanting slogans against Daesh and the AKP.

Later that day, crowds buried SGDF member Polen Ünlü next to Hatice Ezgi. HDP and CHP representatives were present for the ceremony, along with a crowd of thousands. "They were people with immense hearts," said Polen's mother, Şennur Ünlü, speaking at the mosque as her daughter's body was prepared for burial. "They couldn't fit those hearts into this world."

The crowd of thousands bore Polen's body to Çırçır Cemetery to be buried alongside Hatice Ezgi. At the ceremony, the SGDF held a commemoration for Hatice Ezgi, Polen and all the victims of the attack.

(nt)