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----- Original Message -----
From: dhkc
bureau
Sent: Tuesday, December 26, 2000 4:51 PM
Subject: THE STATEMENTS OF CAPTIVES WHO SURVIVED THE BAYRAMPASA
MASSACRE THE TRUTH IS CONTINUING TO
BE EXPOSED THE STATEMENTS OF CAPTIVES WHO SURVIVED THE BAYRAMPASA MASSACRE Hello, We witnessed savagery in 16 prisons on December 19, 2000. I want to reveal the massacre, as one of those who witnessed and was subjected to this savagery. We woke up to the sound of an explosion at around 5 am on December 19. One of our friends shouted "Friends! The operation is taking place!" We all rushed to put our clothes on. When I looked outside from the window I saw the special military units on the roofs. They were wearing the gas masks and their long-range rifles were directed at the dormitory. Before we put our clothes on, they opened fire at us and we took cover. We soaked all the towels we could find. Then they started to dig into the ceiling from various places. Meanwhile they were swearing at us. "We came here to kill you," they were saying. They continued to dig into the ceiling. >From outside, from the roofs they were continually throwing blast bombs. After opening several holes in the ceiling, the bombardment with gas bombs began. We were choking and trying to gasp for air. While covering our mouths and noses with the wet towels to neutralise the effect of the gas, we were breaking the windows of our dormitory to get some fresh air. The rain of gas bombs was continuing. We moved from the centre of the dormitory towards the windows to get some air. Some of our friends fainted because of the gas. Those who came to carry out a massacre were continuously shouting through a megaphone, "Surrender, otherwise we will kill you all!" Our reply to this was our marches, slogans and tililis (a Kurdish women's tradition during weddings and funerals: a kind of loud trilling noise). Until noon we were continuously having gas bombs and nerve-gas bombs thrown at us. Approximately 700 to 1,000 bombs were thrown at us. We, on the other hand, had nothing to retaliate with. Our best response was our marches and slogans. The enemy was belittled with every passing second. They were continuing to throwing bombs, swearing at us and opening fire from the windows. They opened holes on the ceiling from 10 different places and they continuously carried out surprise attacks from these holes by using bombs. These bombs were dropped on us and started to burn us. While we were trying to put the fire out, we were also inhaling gas. Meanwhile the special teams tried to land at the exercising area from the roofs by using ropes but they could not succeed. They were continuously throwing blast bombs and opening fire from the roofs. Since I am a Death Fast fighter my friends were trying to protect me. At around noon they started to throw nerve gas and fire bombs at us. Most of us choked and lost consciousness. The flames started to cover the dormitory. Those who have not fainted yet were continuing to shout slogans and to sing marches. The fire spread all over the dormitory. We all moved towards the door, we had to get out. The door could not be opened first. Everywhere was shrouded in smoke and fire. Because of the effect of the gas some of us lost their consciousness while attempting to reach the door. I fell too. Some of my comrades fell over me. I could not breathe and because of the fire it was hot. When I caught my breath I stood up with a great effort. I could walk forward a step or two. Then one of my comrades pushed me out of the door. The threshold was as hot as hell. Nothing could be seen because of the smoke. The fire surrounded us. I barely remember to be pushed outside. With the fresh air I gasped. While trying to walk down the stairs my legs were trembling. Most of my comrades were in the same situation. We were in shock because of the nerve gas and we could not realise certain things. When I was downstairs some of my comrades were trying to put out the fire on them by using water. Hair, hands and the backs of most of us were burnt. When one of our comrades said, "Some of us could not come out, they are still burning upstaŭrs", many of our comrades headed towards the stairs. I saw Ebru Dincer while sitting on the stairs and fully burnt. She could not speak and her hands, face, hair and most parts of her body were burnt. Then our comrades Hacer Arikan, Birsen Kars and Gulizar Kesici were taken out of the flames with a great effort. There were still some of our comrades inside. Gulser Tuzcu comrade was on fire at the threshold. Our comrades tried to pull her out but could not succeed. Everyone was running from one place to another. Finally two of our comrades re-entered the dormitory to search for the others. When they returned empty-handed, their faces, hair and hands were burnt too. When we went downstairs we noticed that Nilufer, Seyhan, Ozlem, Sefinur and the First Team Death Fast fighter Gulseren Ozturk were not amongst us. They were left in the blaze. While our comrades were burning alive, the murderers were filming their creation with pleasure. They had the water hoses but they were not skirting water into the burning dormitory. Those who supposedly came for "return to life" made their real intention very clearly. They came to kill or make us all surrender. After a while we came out of the exercise area from the ground floor dormitory. We started to dance the halay (traditional Anatolian folkloric dance) in the exercise. We were replying to the enemy with "Mitralyoz". It meant, "You could not make us surrender, you were defeated". After our halay finished, we entered the ground floor of the dormitory C-2. Meanwhile the murderers were trying to enter by cutting the iron door. Again they started to throw gas bombs and to swear at us, shouting to us to surrender. We were trying to spill water on our burnt comrades. When the effect of the gas bombs became too much to bear we went back to the exercise area. This time they bombarded us with more bombs in there. Specifically they were targeting us. This continued for a while, then they used pressurised water. We were trying to protect ourselves in small groups. We tried to protect our burnt friends by putting them in the middle of the groups. But we could not succeed. A group of our friends took them back to the ground floor. They were bombarded there too. Meanwhile the murderers were entering one by one from the door that was cut off. It was around 14.00 and our resistance had been continuing for seven hours. While our injured comrades were trying to come out the dormitory, the murderers opened fire at them with their long-range rifles. When our comrades were in the exercise area, they managed to join us under the pressurised water. We gathered in the middle of the exercise area and held tight to each other. The murderers were still afraid of coming to the exercise area. They came after a while. First they entered the dormitory and directed their rifles at us from the windows. Another group was facing us but could not come closer. They were pointing at us and in a cowardly fashion saying "Come towards us one by one, surrender yourselves". We said we would not surrender and if they wished to they should come and take us. They could not come. We were continuously shouting at them. "You burnt our friends alive. You will pay for this. You will present an account to our people." They started to approach slowly. They tried to snatch us one by one. They dragged us on the floor to the corridor. From there they took us to a big hall, beating us all the way. The resistance of our male comrades was still continuing. Later on they took us to hospital one by one. We were beaten there too since we refused an immoral body search. They asked me and the other Death Fast fighter Suna Okmen whether we would accept medical treatment or not. We said "No, we refuse, we continue our Death Fast action." Then they took us back to the same hall. After some time they put 14 of us in a transport vehicle for prisoners (ring) and in completely wet clothes they made us wait for hours. We were all shivering. We were not allowed to go to the toilet or drink water. They were telling us to soil our pants. After waiting for hours they took us to Bakirkoy remand prison. They were continuously filming while all this was happening. They wanted to put us into the cells one by one when we arrived at the prison. We refused. Then they had to put us in threes. We did not let them lock the doors either. The state massacred many of our comrades under the pretext of "intervention in the Death Fast" Its aim was obvious, to make us surrender. But our great resistance has shown them once again that we will never accept surrender. >From now on, maybe we will all die one by one but we will never agree to surrender. Once again they are the defeated, we and our people are the victors. We continue the Death Fast. We will continue until victory. Ayla Ozcan, First Death Fast Team Fighter. Hello, We realised that the operation began when we heard the sounds coming from the upper corridor on December 19, on Tuesday at 5 am. At that time I was the night shift person on duty. I had seen Birol on the corridor. I told him that we should warn our comrades. While he was saying, it may not be the case, let's wait for a while, we heard noises coming from the front door. I guess he ran to his dormitory too. With our first warning all our comrades got up and started the preparations. We gathered the group to form a barricade on the lower floor. Meanwhile the friends from other organisations who stay in the opposite dormitory started to form barricades too. We heard the sounds of digging of the wall which was coming from the dormitory where the PKK (Kurdistan Workers' Party) people stay. We thought that they are smashing the wall down. In the same way they began to strike blows to the upper floor door. We saw that they located machine guns on the upper corridors' observation windows. The team on the roof was located, not straight across from us but to the side, and they were the ones who threw the most bombs. They opened fire with the machine guns too. So we took cover underneath the windows. We operated the diaphone which helps us to communicate with our male comrades. But we could not contact them, maybe they did not turn it on. We tried to move the Death Fast fighters in our dormitory to a safer place. We tried to protect ourselves against the gas bombs by using wet towels. But with the first set of bombs we choked and some of us vomited. We all started to break the windows. After a time we became immune. Or this is how I felt. These bombs were releasing a yellowish gas. We threw them back. Occasionally there were duds. After some time they began to open holes on the ceiling. >From the holes bombs were dropped one after another. We tried to take cover by keeping away from underneath of these holes. We tried to neutralise these bombs by using wet bedclothes, pillows, etc. They started to detonate the bombs by using an iron cage which was hung from the ceiling. They must be planning to prevent us from throwing the bombs back where they come from. But at the same time they opened the dormitory's observation windows and continued to open fire from the roofs. I cannot remember how many more bombs they dropped, but we threw outside those we could get to. At one stage they threw a different kind. It was an elongated one and I think its smoke was blue. It was not possible to ameliorate its effects. It chokes you and you feel you are paralysed. Then it gives you a pain as if all your internal organs are shredded. This bomb made us all faint. Then we recovered. Since they knew that we were underneath the windows, if I am not wrong, they opened seven or eight holes in there. At the same time they were verbally abusing and swearing at us. They surrounded us from the roof, the roof on the side and the observation windows behind us. "Surrender yourselves, if we wish to we can shoot you all," they said. They repeated this many times through the megaphones. We replied to each of their "surrender" appeals with our slogans. When they heard our slogans they threw more bombs from all over the place. This continued for hours. We announced that if they attempted to enter we would set ourselves on fire. Suna made the announcement. Their replies were unserious. They said "Come on, let us see how you'll set fire to yourself". The rain of bombs began again. They threw a shock bomb. This time I felt I was losing my mind. I fell. When I turned my head, I saw one of our friends, she was screaming and pulling her hair out. There was shouting inside the dormitory. We all shouted, "We will all die for our people". They never stopped bombarding us. They threw blast bombs, yellow coloured gas bombs and fire bombs. The bunk beds at the rear caught fire. The flames were bursting out the observation windows. The dormitory was full of smoke and most of us lost consciousness. We tried to bring each other back to consciousness. We started to evacuate the rear section. Nilufer, Seyhan and Ozlem were amongst those who fainted. I helped Seyhan, she regained consciousness. We came forward to the door and told the other friends that we would evacuate the dormitory. Several friends came to the door. They were not able to open the door. I joined them to help them force the door open. It could only be opened slightly. It was very hot everywhere. Everything was hot and it burnt you if you touched it. I helped push the ones in front up the steps. At that point it was dark everywhere. I thought I was fainting. I fell to my knees. A certain amount of time later I felt some fresh air. I came round and could stand up. I could not see anything around me. There was a huge pall of smoke around the place. I went back to the stairs. A group of my friends was down the stairs. Later I started hearing voices. "They are on fire, they are on fire," they shouted. Birsen and Gulizar came down the stairs while on fire. We took them to the sink and put some cold water on them. At this stage we opened the door of the ventilation area. We took them outside. Outside the friends were pouring water over Hacer who was lying on the ground. Her back was almost burned away. The upper floor was absolutely charred and it was impossible for us to go up the stairs. Most of our friends had burns on various parts of their bodies, especially the heads. The reason for this was that flames were being projected through the observation slits in the doors. Most of our friends received burns while in the vicinity of the door. Those who were affected by smoke inhalation fell to the ground and blocked the door. Gulser fell at the front of the door and could not be removed. She had completely fainted, blocking the door. She was right at the door's edge. I did not see any of my other friends who had been burned. But from other dormitories Sefinur was seen giving the victory sign. Again, Seyhan waved from the window. Nilufer and Ozlem and Gulseren must have fainted. When we went up to the ventilation area the enemy was surprised. In any case, they looked to see what we would do. I was affected by the gas, it was hard for me to stand up. I could not feel my arms or legs and I was just able to open my eyes. With the help of my friends I stood against the wall in the ventilation area. They were still watching us from the upper area and calling on us to surrender. In reply we shouted the slogan, "The revolutionary martyrs are immortal," and we danced the halay. And again they started throwing bombs at us. We took those of our friends who were injured inside. The enemy was still shouting "Surrender" from the door. "Look, your male comrades have surrendered, if you want you can talk to them." Whatever the situation was, Muharrem from the MLKP (Marxist-Leninist Communist Party) came and said their dormitory was burnt down, this was why they had evacuated the dormitory. He said, "We didn't surrender," etc. And again they said things like "Surrender and we won't do anything," etc. Again we didn't accept this. We discussed among ourselves whether we should hand over the ones who had been wounded. Then we made the decision not to hand them over. The enemy started cutting and chopping at the door, and they were throwing bombs. Again we went out into the ventilation area. They were continuing to throw bombs. Then they started using water cannons. They stopped the water cannons and started throwing bombs. Then they resumed using the water cannons. Two hours passed in this way. The enemy was still unable to come in. They broke down the door but they were still keeping their distance from us and could only approach by hurling bombs. We linked arms. They were still continuing to shout, "Surrender!" We said, "No!" and continued shouting our slogans. We said we would demand a reckoning for our people they had slaughtered. At this point we were being filmed with a camera. Because of my poor eyesight I could not see this properly. At once I turned my head to look at the dormitory and it was completely blackened. Everything was burned and there was still smoke coming out of it. The enemy soldiers were going forward and back and shouting, "Come one at a time." We did not accept this. Then they said things like "Check if they have bombs on them," because they were still scared. We started to walk out in a group. They attacked us and pulled us apart and took us away one by one. The soldier who was taking me dragged me along the floor and spoke in a hoarse voice. I couldn't understand him properly but he was saying something like "Your resistance has made those dogs (ie. the officers) order us to do this." At the end he said, "Get medical treatment and the Prophet Ali shall be with you," (the soldier was an Alevi). And they took us all to the soldiers' barracks. Again, our area was surrounded. When our people were shouting at them that they were murderers and savages, they said things like we didn't do it, you did it yourselves etc. The ones who were very seriously injured were taken one by one to Bayrampasa Hospital. We went to hospital by ambulance. They said I had injuries to my ankles as well as gas poisoning. I was X-rayed. They did not want me to stay in the hospital. So they sent me back straight away. When I was asked my name etc. the officers answered all these questions. They knew my first and second name, and they were the ones who did not want me to stay in the hospital. Later on I returned to where my friends were. There were photographs taken there, and after that someone in civilian clothes asked where I had been taken from. He asked me as if he knew me. "You were arrested in the street." I said, "No, who are you?" He did not reply. After registration, they put us - 19 of us - into the "ring" (transport vehicle). In our ring there were 14 of us. We were made to wait until far into the night. At this point we learned that our male comrades were still resisting. Then they started to bring them as well. We shouted out to the male comrades which of us had been martyred. From time to time we started shouting our slogans. In the night they brought us to Bakirkoy. The team who brought us there was swearing and going into details about how they killed comrades. They were saying things like they had killed 20 to 30 people. We shouted slogans and then the enemy said, "Tomorrow we will go and collect your arms and legs." In Bakirkoy there was no introductory beating by the enemy. Everyone was waiting for us in a panic. They registered us one by one. One by one arguments occurred at first, and then we were put into two- or three-person cells. The first day our doors were kept locked. After a discussion, the doors were opened. At the moment our doors are kept open between 8 am and 8 pm. The ventilation doors are opened twice a day. We go out in a group. The first day we went outside we held a minute's silence and shouted our slogans. Our visiting days have been declared to be on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Lawyers are allowed to see us. At this stage the enemy is not creating problems. Usually they accept what we want. But we think that there are political reasons for this attitude. The first night we came there was a health check-up. My eyes were completely closed. We treat ourselves with eye-drops and applied dressings to ourselves. We announced that our Death Fast resistance was continuing. This information has all been written down very quickly and so there might be some mistakes. Soon I will write it all down in more detail. Our resistance was heroic. Our comrades all fought heroically. Our slogans, marches and tililis never stopped. We engraved heroism into the historical records. Nothing can stop this power. We will win. Filiz Gencer December 22, 2000 Dear Mr Behic Asci, Hello, On December 19, at five in the morning, the special team at Sagmalcilar Prison, commandos, soldiers, Rapid Reaction police and robocops surrounded us. While they were trying to dig holes in the walls, they saw us stand up and they started firing on us. After the shooting they started to bombard us. They threw all kinds of bombs at us. They threw things like smoke, sound bombs, nerve gas and pepper gas. We constantly answered them with slogans and insults. They continually shouted "Surrender or we will kill all of you." We said, "Come and kill us all if you like, but we will never surrender - you should be the ones who surrender to us - surrender to the justice of the people." Their calls to surrender, insults, obscenities and harassment were constantly met by us with slogans, marches and insults of our own." At regular intervals they subjected us to heavy bombardment in an attempt to render us ineffective. When the fighting started we were in the sleeping area. They started breaking holes in the ceiling. They constantly fired through the holes in the ceiling, through observation holes, from the roof, and from the observation holes in the ventilation area. They fired bombs at us. Once they opened a hole in the ceiling, they opened it gradually wider and wider while continuing to pelt us with bombs. They were particularly digging holes in the intervals between bunk beds. The bombs were striking us on our heads, backs and legs. We were putting wet towels on our faces and were huddling together to protect ourselves from bombs. We particularly tried to protect the Death Fast resistance fighters. Wherever we took them, it did not matter, because the enemy was hurling bombs at everybody. In this way it continued until 12 or 12:30 in the afternoon. They threw gas bombs and fired guns. They threw incendiary devices into the areas where there was already a lot of gas in order to cause an explosion. All of us were exhausted and most of us had actually fainted. At the same time our comrades who regained consciousness directed us to the door. Those who went out returned to bring back our other comrades. The last time we came out it was impossible to anything because of the flames. Gulser was lying at the foot of the door completely burned. Gulseren Yazgul Guder, Ozlem Ercan, Sefinur Tezgel, Seyhan Dogan, Nilufer Alcan and Gulser Tuzcu had been burned alive. They tried to burn us all. When we came downstairs to the canteen area they started heavily pelting us with bombs. All of us went into the ventilation area and started dancing the halay. We shouted out to them to come and shoot us all but they would never get us to surrender. They were very afraid. Under their gas bomb bombardment, we shouted slogans and danced the halay to the tune of "Mitralyoz". Along with the bombs they also sprayed high-pressure water at us. The massive bombardment of gas bombs filled the entire ventilation area. While we were going out into the ventilation area, other political prisoners also joined us from outside. The robocops continually shouted "Surrender!" And every time we answered them. We continually shouted, "We will demand a reckoning for our martyrs. You have burned us alive, you have taken away six of our lives, you can come and riddle us with bullets as well but you will not get us to surrender." "All of us will join the Idils, Sabos and Sibels," we said. "For 54 days we have already been waiting for death, we have taken the risk of death into account." "Welcome, death." These were the slogans we shouted. This continued until 3 o'clock. At last they smashed the door down and entered the dormitories. They had already surrounded us from the roof. Later we went into the ventilation area. They approached to one metre from us but they did not have the courage to come closer. They said, "Surrender and come this way one at a time." "We will take your wounded to a hospital. We don't want anyone else to get hurt." We were in the middle of the ventilation area, and answered, saying "You have taken six of our lives away. We are all ready to die, you murderers and pack of dogs." They were continuously recording the operation from the roof. When they entered the ventilation area they were still recording. We said, "Keep on recording, you are celebrating our sacred holiday in this way, go and explain to your wives and children that you have eaten human flesh and drunk blood." They surrounded us even more and then wildly attacked and tortured us, dragging us along the corridor outside, and took us to a large room where the soldiers were. They took us in twos and threes to the Sagmalcilar hospital. I was with Aydan. In the hospital the officers and soldiers tried to search us. We replied with our slogans. They dragged us along the ground and tortured us and then threw us at the door of the accident and emergency. I had burns on my hands and leg, and only five minutes later they took us back to the large room again. From there they put us in the ring and started to make us wait. Twelve of those who had been severely injured were taken to hospital. Birsen, Hacer, Ebru, Gamze, Gulperi and Songul had received burns to the arms as a result of the fire, Mine, Alev, Ozgul, Hulya, Funda and Gulizar were also in hospital, a total of 12 persons. All had serious burns. We were able to drag them from the dormitory to the lower floor while they were on fire. And we, myself, Munevver, Filiz, Nursel, Ayla, Suna, Mesude, Fatma, Aydan, and the other political prisoners were made to wait in the "ring" for five or six hours. >From there we were taken to Bakirkoy prison. Our Death Fast martyr comrade Gulser Yazgul Guder had been on the 54th day of the Death Fast. They kept on shouting our slogans, marches and telling the murderers that a reckoning would be demanded for our people. Seyhan had kept on trying to throw back the bombs that the enemy had thrown. She had run from place to place under a hail of bullets. Sefinur had done the same. Finally Sefinur had stood up and given the victory sign while she was on fire. The comrades in the opposite dormitory explained that Seyhan had also given the victory sign while she was on fire. Ozlem was continuously trying to protect the Death Fast fighters, throwing bombs back outside and putting wet blankets over them. Gulser was also well to the front when it came to fighting. While she was taking us outside she removed the cupboards which were blocking the doorway. At the final door she collapsed. I did not see a lot of Nilufer. She kept running from place to place. I was next to the Death Fast fighters. In one way I was trying to guard them, in another way I was trying to throw the bombs back outside, and I was also trying to bring the comrades back inside. All of our comrades and heroic martyrs gave a good example of self-sacrifice. With the spirit of sacrifice of our martyrs, we entered the doors of the cells. When they brought us there we were thrown into the cells one by one. Then they took us two at a time. A day later we got them to open the doors of the cells. At present we are staying in three-person cells. We have been on the Death Fast resistance since we came here. We said this is the cell-type treatment. Our resistance is continuing with great resolve. December 22, 2000 Hamide Ozturk Hello, My lawyer Behic Asci, I woke up at five in the morning to the sound of my comrade shouting that there is an operation and the soldiers have entered. We got up and dressed immediately. When I looked out the window I saw the special teams wearing helmets and carrying machine guns standing on the roofs. We only had the chance to take a few containers of water from the canteen downstairs. The dormitory observation slit was forced open, and they started digging holes in the roof with drills. They were throwing bombs and shouting from the roof and the observation slit, "Surrender!" We were only able to pull two cupboards to close the dormitory door. The dormitory observation slit was opened and the roof had a hole dug in it. They threw large numbers of gas bombs through it. We tried to protect ourselves with wet towels. We especially protected the Death Fast resisters Gulseren Yazgul Guder, Suna Okmen and Ayla Ozcan, we took them to the area where the beds were and tried to cover them with wet blankets. But the enemy was shooting and throwing various types of bombs from the roof, from the observation slit and targeting the ventilation area. When we came to the point where we couldn't protect the Death Fast resisters, we took them next to the wall where we had broken the windows. I, Nursel Demirdogucu, Seyhan Dogan, Mine Demirel, Sefinur Tezgel and Ozlem Ercan were trying to throw back the gas bombs through the windows we had already broken. When they saw this, sound bombs and bullets. (illegible) four or five various types of bomb, and four or five types of gas bomb. At particular points, nerve gas bombs were used. We reached a point where we could not breathe Most of our comrades fainted. They were trying to break our resistance by continuously throwing gas bombs. We answered their calls to surrender by shouting, "We will not surrender!" and "Welcome, death!" Many times I stood up and said, "I am here but you can only take my dead body. If you have courage for it, shoot us, kill us. We have already taken the risk of dying." Many of my friends spoke in the same way. In reply, the enemy was shouting, "Life is good. Why not surrender?" and I and many other friends said things like, "Rather than live with a dishonourable mind and commit treason to my sense of honour and beliefs, I would rather die honourably a thousand times over." In response to this, they shouted that they would kill whores like us one by one, none of us would get out alive etc, and they engaged in immoral acts. We said, "the murderers, the children of Manukyan (a notorious pimp in Turkey) and servants of the USA can take our blood and our lives if they want to take blood and lives, but they will not make us surrender. Our minds and bodies are more powerful than any weapon you possess. You are afraid. You are servants who carry out murders. Who is giving you your orders? Ecevit should come, Mesut Yilmaz should come, (fascist MHP leader) Devlet Bahceli should come, (Justice Minister) Hikmet Sami Turk should come, they won't come." We began singing our marches, "Walk along on your way, there is nothing other than death," "The day began and we all woke up," "If you have courage, come on," "For us there is no death." We shouted all these marches despite being out of breath. Our commanders Mecit and Ismet Kavaklioglu had shown us the way to shout slogans. Ozgul Dede and Seyhan Dogan shouted, "We have been purified, comrades." And we all continually chanted the tilili. Under the hail of bombs and bullets we continually made speeches, shouted slogans and sang marches declaring that we will not give up our beliefs and we would not surrender. Many times they threw nerve gas bombs at us and five or six times we reached the point of fainting and were totally exhausted. The wet towels we put in front of our mouths were completely covered in gas and the only protection we had was no longer effective. We tried to recover the burning beds which had been set on fire by their bombs, and we tried to cover these with wet blankets and pillows. When it was 12 or 1230 in the afternoon, they knew they could not break our resistance and could not take us out of the dormitory. They understood they could not separate us from one another, so they started throwing large amounts of nerve gas at us, followed by incendiaries. The beds, the bedclothes and bunk beds were set on fire. When I saw that we could no stay in the sleeping area of the dormitory because of the nerve gas and fires, I had to remove the cupboards from the door, and these cupboards were as hot as a fire. We shouted to the comrades, "We are moving out to the canteen. We could not see a thing, and immediately all of us went out as we were on the point of fainting. The whole dormitory was set on fire. The frames of the bunk beds and windows were starting to burn. I was unable to see any other comrade. Only the comrades who were able to make it to the door had fainted and piled on top of one another. Personally, I, Birsen Kars, Gulizar Kesici dragged two comrades whose names I don't recall out of the fire. Because they had almost fainted, we had to drag them down the stairs and their heads were even striking the steps. Gulser Tuzcu was between the door and the cupboard and she appeared to be dead, either from a direct hit by a bomb or a bullet to the head. A number of times I tried to save her. Because she was stuck between the door and the cupboard I lacked the strength to pull her out. A few other comrades came but they too could not get her out. In any case she was on fire. Because the dormitory was on fire we could not see the friends Gulseren Yazgul Guder, Sefinur Tezgel, Nilufer Alcan, Ozlem Ercan and Seyhan. Apart from them we did not know who was still inside. We continuously shouted but we never heard any reply. When we got from the dormitory to the canteen, again we tried to pour water on our friends and put some Silverdin cream on them. However, the hail of bullets, nerve gas and noise bombs continued. We broke the windows. But because they made continuous use of nerve gas, we could not remain in the canteen. We went up to the ventilation area and the hail of bombs and bullets continued. We entered the hall of the prison guards. This time they started bombarding that area as well. During this period, they were using more nerve gas and various other types of gas. We were not able to stay in any area that we entered. Then we went out into the ventilation area again. High-pressure water from water cannons was being fired at us from two sides. Those who did not use high-pressure water cannons for the fire in the dormitory tried to render us ineffective with these water cannons and bombs. I don't remember how long these attacks lasted in the ventilation area. But we went out into the ventilation area we were dancing the halay and singing the "Mitralyoz" song about Idil (Ayce Idil Erkmen, DHKP-C woman prisoner who died in 1996 Death Fast). Continually we shouted, "Welcome, death", "We will not surrender," "Where did you ever see us surrender?" We tried to protect the comrades who had been burned. Those of our friends who were just about able to stand on their feet shouted, "What are you waiting for? Beat us, kill us. You can only take our dead bodies out of here." Our C-1 dormitory was still on fire. The metal window guards were melting. The canteen of our dormitory and the upper and lower part of dormitory C-2 were surrounded by special teams armed with machine-guns. Approximately 100 special team members carrying shields stood in the entrance to the ventilation area. We were surrounded from the roof, all the observation slits, and guns were pointed at us. From time to time they were firing and shouting, "Put your hands up and surrender one by one." I don't remember how long this lasted. The last thing we did was link arms at the bottom of the ventilation area. They attacked us and pulled us apart, dragged us away, beat and harassed us and took us to a place the soldiers were using as a canteen. We continued our slogans, shouting that "the revolutionary prisoners won't surrender" and "We will not go into the cells". In the place the soldiers were using as a canteen we were put up against a wall, and the soldiers beat us to get us to face the wall. Again they tried to pull us apart. But they did not get us to do that. We told them, "You couldn't kill us in the dormitory, so do it here. Go ahead. We will not accept anything you want us to do." They forcibly searched two women and then took them to hospital. Those of our friends who had some burns stayed in the hospital. They brought us back to the same place. We constantly shouted our slogans in the ring vehicle while they were taking us to and bringing us back from hospital. "Long live our Sagmalcilar resistance", "Long live our Death Fast resistance", "Heroes will not die, the people will not be defeated". Moreover we shouted "Comrades Gulseren, Nilufer, Seyhan, Ozlem, Gulser and Sefinur are immortal." We continued our slogans. When we were being brought back from the hospital, we were registered by the army in the vehicle. We were soaking from head to toe. I think they kept us in the ring vehicle until they finished their operation against the male comrades. They brought us to Bakirkoy women's and children's prison. They were constantly filming us. We shouted at the soldiers who were filming, "Keep on filming the massacred you have committed." Those who shouted this were attacked. The registration was completed and then they wanted to search our shoes. Because I didn't let them search, the soldiers dragged me to the ring, and took my shoes off, all the time beating me. They handed the shoes over to the prison guards. They put all of us one by one into the cells. I shouted, "I am not going in. I will die but I will not go into the cells. I want to be with my friends. If you put us in the cells, I and all of my friends will not even take water or sugar." So they took all our friends out and put them in a different section where there were two-person cells. Our first night went on like that. In the morning the prison director came. We told him we would not remain like this and we wanted our doors left open, and we also announced our other demands. The director said "You will remain two people to a cell, your doors will be kept locked, you will be allowed out into the ventilation area four at a time, and you will go out to family visits and to see lawyers one at a time." We replied, "This is isolation cell treatment. We are on a Death Fast. We have comrades who have been on a Death Fast for 60 days. If this is to be the practice, we will not take water, sugar and salt. They killed six of our women comrades by burning and there is a massacre going on in all the prisons at the moment. We have given lives not to go into the cells, and we will give more if need be." The director went out and returned in the evening. The director said that the doors of the cells would be left open, we could all go out to the ventilation area immediately, we could see a lawyer and visitors whenever it was needed. We said, "Other demands are addressed to the state and the justice minister." We stated that we were nine DHKP-C captives on the Death Fast resistance. At the moment we are not allowed to see TV. Our families were not allowed to bring radios in. We are announcing to all public opinion that if the isolation cell practices don't end, if those who are responsible for massacres do not render an account, if the situation of all our comrades in the prisons is not clarified, there is no power on earth that can stop us from continuing the Death Fast we are on now. Moreover, I, Nursel Demirdogucu, as a 1996 Death Fast resister, announce once again that if the demands that I have stated above are not met, I will meet death with all my beliefs and honour, just as I did in the 1996 Death Fast. I will embrace death with a smile, just like my other comrades who were martyred heroically did. REVOLUTIONARY PRISONERS CANNOT BE MADE TO SURRENDER DOWN WITH FASCISM, LONG LIVE OUR STRUGGLE LONG LIVE OUR DEATH FAST AND HEROIC RESISTANCE IN ALL PRISONS LET US SACRIFICE OUR LIVES FOR OUR PEOPLE AND HOMELAND DOWN WITH SURRENDER, LONG LIVE HONOURABLE RESISTANCE With love and respect December 22, 2000 Nursel Demirdogucu Hello, my lawyer Mr. Behic Asci, I will try to tell you about the massacre that the state carried out in Bayrampasa Prison on December 19, 2000. Towards morning, at about 5 o'clock, while I was asleep, we woke up to the sound of noises on the roof. On one side the observation slits were having holes broken in them and were being smashed, and on the other side sound bombs were being detonated. Twenty-seven people in the dormitories were jerked out of their sleep by this noise. They were greeted by smoke and sound bomb detonations. The enemy prevented us from coming near the windows by shooting at us and we were unable to breathe. Just to be able to get a little bit of air, we opened and broke the windows. After a short time they started digging through the roof of the dormitories. They were insulting us, swearing at us and harassing us and at the same time hurling gas bombs down on us. The roof was perforated with holes. The dormitory observation slits were smashed and removed. They stationed sharpshooters in the observation slits of the dormitory opposite. The holes they dug in the roof were used to rain bombs down on us. The tear-gas bombs were stamped with the letters MKE. While some of these bombs prevented us from breathing, some of them attacked the nervous system and caused imbalances in coordination. On the other side they allowed a few minutes' break and then they continuously harassed us through the holes that had been opened. They shouted, "We are going to kill all of you." "Don't resist," "Surrender one by one, we will kill all of you if you don't surrender." We had nothing at all to protect ourselves against them. Not even water to wet towels and protect ourselves from the gas. We were only able to use the water we could extract from the radiator. While hours passed, the attacks were becoming more powerful. Very openly we saw that any intervention in the Death Fast that they talked about was a massive lie and demagogy. They came to carry out a complete massacre. In the morning light, the attacks became more efficient and concentrated. They tried to get into the ventilation area by means of ropes they hung down from the roof, but later they gave this idea up. Their use of gas and nerve gas bombs became more frequent and five or six times they launched attacks. Because I was a Death Fast resister, I was protected by my friends all the time. They were trying to protect us from the gas bombs by putting wet clothing and towels over us. A few of my friends were affected by the gas. They became physically agitated, as I saw with my own eyes. From one area the enemy were viewing us through binoculars and in another they were filming us with cameras and were telling the soldiers on the roof where our exact position was. There was no place in the roof that did not have holes in it. Wherever we moved to, they would make a hole and throw gas bombs. We all moved beneath the window. They started throwing sound bombs and shooting through that particular area. About every three minutes they threw stun grenades and gas bombs. From this kind of attack we understood that they were going to massacre us at any moment. As Death Fast resisters, I, and Gulseren Yazgul Ozturk and Ayla Ozcan, announced that we would set fire to ourselves. This is what we did voluntarily, nobody forced us to say this. At about 1130-1200 this was followed by a massive hail of gas and fire bombs, and they suddenly began to burn down the dormitory. It quickly spread all over the dormitory. Beds and furniture began to catch fire. The people were unable to breathe because of the gas bombs and the smoke. The inside was just like an oven. Our hair had started to catch fire. Because we had barred the door we were unable to go out. We forced the door open but the flames would not allow us to pass. It was difficult. Those who were able to stand with difficulty dragged us along. The enemy had water cannons, if they had wanted to they could have put the fire out. All they did was watch. We came down to the canteen and there were still many of our friends in the dormitory. We were unable to save 12 of them, and six were suffocated by the smoke, burned and lost their lives. The soldiers and gendarmes were watching all this and laughing. When they were certain our people were dead in the dormitory, just for show, they began to spray the area with water. While we were inside trying to recover our wounded, they started throwing gas bombs at the area where we were. We went out into the ventilation area with our wounded. From the observation slits and the roof they pointed their guns at us, laughing all the while. We started the halay and shouted all together, "You have burned six of our people, now spray us with gunfire." We announced that we would not surrender and expressed our resolve. When I turned back to look at the dormitory, black smoke was pouring out of it, and metal guards on the window were crumpled outwards. Those of our friends in the opposite dormitory came out as well into the ventilation area. Our wounded were collected in the prison guards' room in order to treat them. They were under continuous harassment from the corridor door. The enemy started to cut down the door and throw gas bombs inside. The situation was such that we had to go out into the ventilation area again. We were drenched by the water from fire brigade hoses they had been spraying at us for two hours. The skin of our burnt friends was completely peeling off. The enemy sprayed high pressure water on the burned areas even though they had no clothing to protect them. The enemy still shouted, "Surrender!" and when we shouted, "We will not surrender!" the enemy made attacks with gas and nerve gas bombs. All of us were in the open, bombs were detonating under our feet and behind our backs, we had nothing to protect ourselves with. We placed our burned friends in the middle and tried to protect them from the high pressure water and gas bombs. But it was not effective. Our comrades were beginning to lose consciousness. I have no words with which to describe the savagery. One group of our friends went back into the dormitory, dragging the injured with them. They had gas bombs rained down on them all the time. We were in the corner of the ventilation area. They started to harass us by firing bullets. They gradually entered the dormitory. Those who had to come back out into the ventilation area because of the gas bombs were having stones and gas bombs hurled down on them by the gendarmerie as they stood in the doorway. Though they knew that a bomb had detonated on a friend's arm, they still were hurling down gas bombs at her. This friend's name was Songul Ince. At the moment she is in Haseki Hospital being treated. At the time of the fire in which our friend received head and facial burns, a stone was hurled at her head as well. A soldier trying to enter the ventilation area said, "Are you surrendering?" and we said, "We are not surrendering." For this we were once again subjected to bombardment and gunshots. The enemy had announced, "Put your hands on your heads and come to us one by one." We said, "We will not surrender, you will need to kill us one by one." All of us gathered in the middle of the ventilation area and we took those who were wounded and placed them between us and linked ourselves together arm to arm. The gendarmes had entered the ventilation area and dormitories. They pointed their gun barrels at us again and tried to bargain. We told them we would not bargain, we told them they were murderers, we said they had burned our people alive and we would not hand our wounded over to murderers. Once they said they would take us one by one, and we replied, "Shoot us." They surrounded us, attacked us and tried to pull us apart. They took us to the other parts of the prison, beat us, kicked us, slapped us, swore at us and then collected us together in the soldiers' canteen. They deliberately delayed treatment for the wounded. They continued their attack by coming up with kinds of prohibitions. They continued their attacks in the hospital. The fascist officers tried to shut us up by beating us when we accused them to their face of carrying out a massacre. Before the eyes of those in the hospital, they tortured most of our friends in the X-ray rooms. At around two they took us to the ring and they made us wait until eight, still wearing our wet clothes. And they also continued their tortures. And after eight, we were brought to Bakirkoy prison for women and children, we were put into the cells. At present all our rights have been taken away and we have been put in the cells. The Death Fast action is continuing. And here our friends who have been put in isolation cells have also started Death Fasts. Mr Behic Asci, I have tried to describe this appalling massacre in general terms. Despite all the demagogy of the state, all my explanations should be clear enough for public opinion. I wish you success in your work. December 22, 2000 Suna Okmen (Signature) Mr Behic Asci, At 5 in the morning on December 19 we were already surrounded and woken up by noises. As soon as we got up, they realised that we had started moving and began firing, shooting and throwing bombs inside. Later, they started holes in the roof and the observation slits and started hurling bombs through these holes. Various bombs such as gas bombs, smoke bombs, sound bombs, pepper gas, nerve gas and fire bombs were used. By throwing these bombs they were trying to restrict our movement and make us ineffective. Every time they threw things it involved hundreds of bombs. Every assault with bombs reduced us to a state of exhaustion. Without having the chance to recover, they would hurl more bombs and fire a hail of bullets at us. This was what went on until 12 o'clock. At that time they set fire to the dormitory. We were in a position where we could not move. Finally we headed into the canteen area. We went upstairs to rescue our friends. We rescued those we could rescue. And those we couldn't rescue or save had become our martyrs by fire. We did not know who had been left behind, in any case. It was impossible to see anything in the smoke. We replied constantly with our slogans to their bombs, their bullets. When they shouted, "Surrender," we replied, "It is you who must surrender to people's justice." When they noticed that we had gone down to the lower floor, they rained bombs down on us. Finally we made our way into the ventilation area, deciding that if we were to die, it should be in the ventilation area in a group. In the ventilation area we shouted out the names of our martyrs one by one. We sang the "Mitralyoz" song and danced the halay. While we danced the halay, on one side the enemy was throwing bombs and firing high-pressure water on the other side. The enemy shouted, "Surrender or we will kill all of you." We replied, "If we were scared of death we would not have lain down to die on a Death Fast." We continued to shout one slogan after another. Then we moved to a section where the prison guards used to stay and the enemy tried to open the door, throwing bombs through a hole they had made in it. They tried to reduce us to a state of exhaustion when we were in there. Despite everything, we managed to make our way back into the ventilation area. On the one hand we tried to protect our comrades, on the other we continued to resist. While we were in the ventilation area, they opened all the doors and entered the dormitories. They did not have the courage to approach us. Continually we shouted, "If you have the courage for it, come and get us." They threw bombs from the dormitory, from the roof and from the observation slits. In the ventilation area we resisted for four hours under a hail of water from water cannons as well as bombs. Four hours later they surrounded us and tried to pull us away from each other. We locked arms very tightly. They could not separate us. They jumped on us and dragged us through the corridors. We were trying to protect our wounded and in that situation we were still shouting our slogans. We were even shouting our slogans as they dragged us. "Long live our Death Fast Resistance," "Long live our Sagmalcilar resistance," "You couldn't make us surrender". From there they took us to the military area. There they tried to learn our names by looking at photographs. Then afterwards those who were severely wounded were sent to hospital, and we were taken to hospital in twos. When I came to the hospital, I refused to accept any kind of medical treatment. They tried to give me serum and medicine and I told them I was a member of the Second Death Fast Team and I would not accept any kind of treatment, and I then returned to where my friends were. When this kind of registration was completed we were taken to the rings. Even here the repression and insults continued. While waiting in the ring vehicle I began to feel ill again. I was vomiting constantly and could not breathe. They took me to the ambulance. A doctor looked at me in the ambulance. He said, "Your situation is serious," and advised that I be taken to hospital. I was taken to hospital. When I went there I refused to accept treatment and was brought straight back. We were made to wait in the ring vehicle until 10 o' clock with wet clothes. After that they brought us to Bakirkoy. We were brought to the administration section. In that time they made us wait for hours, until they had completed their bureaucratic formalities. Then they took us two at a time to one-person cells. Then they threw us into these cells. Afterwards we told them we were on the Death Fast and they put us into two-person cells. A day later two of our representatives with the director three-person cells. (illegible) were opened. We were put in rooms for three persons. At the moment we are in three-person (illegible). We go out to the ventilation area in a group. Our current situation: we have not fully recovered yet. The effects of the gas are still continuing. I am constantly vomiting and this is mixed with blood. I find it hard to breathe. I have tremors in my body. Most of our friends have asthma. I also have asthma. Our illnesses continue. This is our general situation. We are all generally on the Death Fast at present. We will continue until we get all our rights back. We have never surrendered, and we will not do so. Fatma Guzel With my love, a Second Death Fast Team resister |
