AMED - Making evaluations about the right to be buried after the attack on Mir Perwer's funeral, who was murdered in Paris, Mele Zeki Korkmaz, a member of the Amed Scholars Aid and Solidarity Association said: "This approach has no place in any religion or morality."

 

Practices such as harassment, kidnapping, dragging from places, and non-fulfillment of religious obligations against Kurdish funerals came to the fore once again with the funeral of the artist Mir Perwer (Mehmet Şirin Aydın), who was killed on December 23, 2022 in Paris. Mele(religios scholar) Zeki Korkmaz, a member of Diyarbakır Scholars Aid and Solidarity Association, evaluated the attacks on funerals, which turned into a state policy.

 

Zeki Korkmaz

 

'IT IS CRUELTY'

 

Reminding the 7th verse of the Qur'an's Surah Isra, Korkmaz said: "Allah says, I sent an honorable creature to the earth by giving people their religion and race with Adam. The most honorable among living things is human. The religion of a deceased person has the right to be buried, regardless of their race or belief. If there is any obstacle to the burial of a deceased person, this is cruelty. It is against the decree of Allah. This approach has no place in any religion or morality. It was an example of courtesy. Our Prophet, while passing by the funeral of a non-Muslim who died in Medina, stood up out of respect for the funeral. At that time, his companions said to the prophet, 'O Prophet of Allah, do you know who that funeral belongs to? The funeral belongs to the person who attacked you many times before he died. Hz. Mohammed turned to him and said, 'He is a human being first of all,' and said that attacking the funeral was not acceptable."

 

EMPHASIS ON JUSTICE AND PEACE

 

Saying that the religion of Islam defends justice and peace, Korkmaz referred to the hadith of the Qur'an numbered 4732 and said: "Those who are racist are not from us. Those who do not oppose the persecution for their own people and keep their own race are racist. Racists have nothing to do with humanity. A dead person must be buried no matter what. A dead person has no sin. The hostilities, if any, must end. Those who attack funerals have no place in morality and humanity. In Surat al-Maida in the Qur'an, Muslims are addressed as follows: 'O servants of Allah, you are witnesses of Allah's justice, do not make enmity among yourselves. Just as you want it for yourself and your people, ask the same for your other brothers. If this is not the case, you will not have fully fulfilled the conditions of Islam."

 

'RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS SHOULD BE AGAINST CRUELTY'

 

Stressing that the society should also resist the attacks on funerals, Korkmaz continued: “First of all, Muslims, especially meles, should react against attacks on funerals. They should tell about the cruelty in society. If the persecution is not opposed, they will be sinned. As a whole, it should be respected regardless of religion, race or belief. In the 636th hadith of the Qur'an, it is said that people, whether you are a Muslim, a Jew or of any other faith, you are human first and foremost, so respect each other. Do not attack each other and do not be hostile.”

 

BODIES ATTACKED, EXPOSED AND DRAGGED ON THE GROUND

 

The body of YJA-Star Kevser Eltürk (Ekin Wan), who lost his life in a clash in the Gimgim (Varto) district of Muş on August 10, 2015, was exposed naked by the police. On October 3, 2015, in Şırnak, Hacı Lokman Birlik's body was wounded, tied to an armored vehicle and dragged on the ground. The curfews announced in many cities of Kurdistan, especially in Nusaybin, Şırnak, Cizre, and Sur, between 2015 and 2016, were followed by similar practices, regardless of women, children, young or old.

 

The funerals of Taybet İnan and Cemile Çağirga, who were remembered in this process, could only be buried as a result of the initiative of the MPs. Most of the 282 bodies, which were removed from the Garzan Cemetery of Bedlis in October 2020 and buried on the pavement in Kilyos Cemetery in Istanbul, have not yet been delivered to their families. On April 11, 2020, the funeral of HPG member Agit İpek was released to her mother, Halise Aksoy, after three years, at Diyarbakır Courthouse, and the bones of Hakan Arslan, who died in Sur, on August 29, 2022, in Diyarbakır. Giving it to his father, Ali Rıza Arslan, in a cardboard box at the Courthouse, was recorded as another example of intolerance.