İZMİR - Hüseyin Karatay, brother of Mehmet Emin Karatay, who was assassinated in Shengal, said: "My brother devoted 43 years of his life to the struggle. His struggle continued until his last breath."

 

Shengal Autonomous Administration announced on January 4 that Mehmet Emin Karatay (Menal Mêrdin), who had been fighting for the revolution for 43 years, died on January 2, in the town of Tilezêr in Shengal, as a result of an assassination attack in partnership with Turkey and the KDP.

 

Karatay was born in 1959 in the village of Tinatê in the Nîsêybîn district of Merdîn. Some of the family living in the village had to migrate to İzmir in the 1970s due to the economic problems they experienced. Karatay also came to Izmir in 1976 to work. Karatay contributed to his family by working in a bakery and sometimes selling bagels in Izmir, where he came at the age of 17.

 

KARATAY LEFT HIS MILITARY SERVICE AND JOINED THE PKK

 

After working in İzmir for two years, Karatay went to Kars to do his compulsory military service, and came to İzmir after completing his recruiting unit. Karatay's brother Ramazan Karatay joined the PKK in 1979 against the assimilation and oppression policies against the Kurds. Mehmet Karatay was also impressed by the fact that his brother Ramazan Karatay, with whom he grew up in Izmir, where he came on a 10-day leave from the military, joined the PKK. Mehmet Karatay was taken into custody 8 years later in 1987 in Batman and arrested.

 

KARATAY WAS ARRESTED FOR 25 YEARS

 

Karatay, who was arrested in Batman, was later taken to Diyarbakır Prison. Karatay was tortured for days in Diyarbakır Prison, which turned into a torture center. His fingers were broken and his nails were pulled by the torturers. Karatay could not use his fingers because of the electricity given to his body. Karatay applied to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). Turkey was sentenced to pay compensation due to Karatay's applications to the ECtHR.

 

Karatay was imprisoned for 25 years in different prisons, including Batman, Diyarbakır, Mardin, Bursa, Çanakkale, Aydın, Nazili, Bergama, İzmir and Amasya.

 

KARATAY WENT TO SENGAL

 

Karatay's brother, Ramazan Karatay, died in a conflict in Mêrdîn in 1987, while his nephew Kerim Karatay died in a clash with soldiers in Şırnak in 2010.

 

After Karatay was released in 2013, he decided to continue his life in his hometown of Nisêbîn and lived here until 2016. However, Karatay, who was affected by the ISIS attack on Shengal and the massacre against Yazidis in 2014, told his family that he wanted to go to Shengal to show solidarity with the Yazidi people and to get to know the Yazidi people better. Karatay, who went to Shengal in 2016, was working on a book so that the massacres of the Yazidi people would be heard and the beliefs and cultures of the Yazidi people would not be forgotten. Karatay was assassinated in the house where he lived before he could complete his book work.

 

A LIFE DEVOTED TO THE REVOLUTION

 

Karatay's elder brother Hüseyin Karatay and nephew Mustafa Karatay, who devoted his life to the struggle for 43 years, 25 of whom were in prison, talked about Mehmet Emin Karatay. Hüseyin Karatay said that his brother lives in the hope of permanent peace and is loved by everyone. Hüseyin Karatay said: “My brother was a patriot. Ramazan got on very well with everyone because he was a devoted person. Ramazan was subjected to many tortures during his stay in prison; however, he constantly struggled against them. My brother went on hunger strikes against the oppression in prison in the 90s. When his demands were not met, he turned his hunger strike into a death fast. He was always in good spirits when we went to visit the prison. Ramazan was also loved by his friends. For 43 years, his life passed without a break in struggle. This continued until his last breath.”

 

'MY UNCLE WAS HOPEFUL'

 

Karatay's nephew, Mustafa Karatay, also said that he knew his uncle in prison. Stating that he went to visit his uncle Karatay, Mustaya Karatay said: "I met my uncle when I went to visit him in Gaziantep Prison. He was able to enter the ward because I was a child. In the following processes, I went to all the prisons where my uncle and grandmother were held. He was always hopeful. He always told us that we should be in high spirits in the face of life." 

 

'PEOPLE WERE ASSASSINATED'

 

Karatay said: "My uncle could not stand the persecution of the Yazidi people and left. We consider it an attack. Our peoples need to raise their calls for peace against this. Only in this way can we achieve victory." 

 

MA / Delal Akyüz