July 15 mothers recall loss, pride, pain 9 years later
It has been nine years since the treacherous coup attempt by the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which targeted democracy, took place on the night of July 15, 2016, in Türkiye. On the occasion of July 15 National Unity Day, the mothers of the martyrs shared their memories of that dark day.
Sıttık Kaşaltı, mother of martyr Köksal Kaşaltı, who was serving at the Presidential Complex, recalled that night as, “First, I called him and asked, ‘Where are you, Köksal? I heard the police headquarters was bombed.’ He said, ‘No, mom, we are in front of the Presidential Complex.’ I told him to be careful. Our last conversation was around 3 a.m., I think. He was martyred at 6:45 a.m. in the last bomb attack."
She continued: "The traitors martyred my brave son; his two children were left orphaned. My daughter-in-law was newly pregnant, just 2 1/2 months. They had a 3-year-old child. My son called his wife early in the morning and told her to rest, saying the traitors were surrendering. I had just lain down for five minutes when I woke up at 6:45 a.m. with pain."
"I was crying all the time. Suddenly, my daughter-in-law got up and asked, ‘Mom, what happened?’ I said, ‘Nothing.’ Around 9:30, someone knocked on our door. I ran and said, ‘Köksal has come.’ His wife ran, saying, ‘Köksal has come.’ Our grandchild ran, my father came, but the bad news bearers had come. I could not hear my son’s voice for nine hours. I have longed for him for nine years. Yes, the pride is great. He left a very great honor, but also a very great pain,” Kaşaltı said with deep pain in her voice.
Kaşaltı also shared her thoughts upon learning about the death of FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen: “My pain did not ease. I could not rejoice because there is more to come. Those who live under this flag, who eat and drink from this country, and betray this country, we do not forgive them. As a martyr’s mother, I do not forgive them. May my son’s blood not remain on the ground. May those in prison not be released. May our hearts not burn any more.”
Birthday shadowed by war
Şengül Kaya, mother of martyr Ferhat Kaya, said it was her birthday that day, and her daughter-in-law surprised her. When her son asked, “Are you happy, Mom?” she replied, “Yes.” She said her son told her after work that he would leave soon. At that moment, her son told her, “Don’t stay outside, go inside immediately.” She said she didn’t understand what was happening.
Kaya recalled that shortly after, her son came home. She asked him, “What are these planes?” and he replied, “Mom, I don’t know either. They have closed the Istanbul Bridge.”
She continued: “My son’s friend, martyr Ahmet Çakır, was with him. They had come together, and they were going to work. They were going to drop me off by car. They brought me right to the front of the house. I kissed Ahmet on the forehead. I didn’t understand how it happened. I told Ahmet, ‘I kiss you in place of my son.’ He said, ‘Thank you, Aunt Şengül.’ Then I kissed my son on the cheeks and said, ‘I entrust you to God.’ My children left."
Kaya waited for a moment silently and continued, "He said, ‘Tell my father hello.’ He told me to stay inside and lock the doors, not to go outside. So clearly, they had received some intel. They both martyred our children, and if they had taken over Türkiye, they had dug a pit for the families of the Special Operations in Mamak to bury us in. The pits they dug, they buried themselves in. Our children are our pride. Unlike them, our children are good, thank God.”
Kaya said she heard an explosion approaching 10 a.m. and called her son to learn about his situation. He replied: “Mom, they bombed the aviation unit. Take care of yourselves.” She said she heard another explosion at 11 a.m. and called her son again but could not reach him.
She said she grew tired of hearing the answering machine’s voice. She added that they set out toward the Special Operations around dawn and when they arrived, helicopters and planes were still flying.
She continued, “At the lower part of the Special Operations, the police turned us back, saying they might harm us. We went to many private and public hospitals in Ankara but could not find my son. Then they found him but didn’t tell me immediately. The next morning, when my family and relatives arrived, I asked why they had come. They said, ‘Don’t suspect anything, don’t think badly.’ I didn’t want to believe it either."
With tears in her eyes, she continued: "Either he was on duty and not answering the phone, or he was wounded. I did not want to think the worst. My brother said, ‘Let’s talk.’ He said, ‘I went and saw Ferhat, and he was smiling and sent you his regards.’ My son was martyred. I also became a martyr’s mother. I am proud, honored, thank God. Before, he was just my son; now he has become the son of all Türkiye. The pain is immense. I cannot express it. Even when parts of it are told, it hurts me so much inside.”
Kaya expressed her thoughts about the death news of FETÖ leader Fetullah Gülen as follows: “Did my heart cool down? It didn’t. Because we were supposed to be the ones to kill that traitor, he and his followers. We needed to do something to them. They are locked up, in prison, but our hearts don’t cool, and they won’t. We need to see that they suffer.”
Wedding dreams faded
Necla Koç, mother of martyr Ferhat Koç, described her son as a person filled with love for the homeland and shared her memories of that dark night. She said they were making wedding preparations that morning, unaware of what was about to happen. “We sent my son off to work in the morning. I suddenly jumped out of bed. He couldn’t eat breakfast; he was afraid of being late. He looked at me from under his eyes, and I looked at him. We didn’t say anything, or rather, we couldn’t. You just know inside. I had a feeling of unease. I was sweating constantly and felt strange."
She continued: "I told myself, ‘Are we going to have a wedding? My daughter didn’t feel this way, why did my son?’ Evening came, and it got dark; there were sounds of planes, but no visuals. We were all looking up but could not see anything. I did not know that they would turn off the lights and rain bombs on my son."
"The TV was in front of us, but we didn’t turn it on. God did not let us. Then we asked the neighbor what was happening, and they said there was a coup. My heart sank. As soon as I heard, we called my son. He was on duty that day. He was about to go on wedding leave and said, ‘Don’t worry about me, I will call you.’ Then we lost contact,” she said.
Koç said her son was among the first martyrs and prayed for the traitors who gave the order to “shoot” to live with the same pain both in this world and the next. She said her son made her proud, and she lives with pride: “My son had 15 days of wedding preparations left. I was going to hold the wedding."
İHA-DailySabah
