FAMILY OF TURKISH-ARMENIAN SOLDIER MURDERED ON APR. 24 OFFENDED BY NATIONALIST LEADER’S REMARKS
epress.am
03.29.2012
The family of a non-Muslim Armenian private who was killed by a
fellow soldier while he was serving in the Turkish military was deeply
offended by remarks from Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) leader Devlet
Bahceli, implying that non-Muslim individuals who fall while serving
the state shouldn’t be considered martyrs, Today’s Zaman reports.
Martyrdom in Turkey is usually associated with nationalism, not
necessarily with religion. Anybody who is killed, or sometimes in cases
of accidental death, while performing a task considered a service to
the country is considered a martyr. Families of individuals who die
under such circumstances are also entitled to receive monthly benefits.
The family of Sevag Balıkcı, who was killed last April by a bullet
from the rifle of a fellow private, spoke to the Radikal daily, saying
Bahceli’s words emphasizing religion as a criterion were offensive and
discriminatory. “Until now, I always thought we were one as a nation.
Now they have made us feel we are ‘the other’,” said Ani Balıkcı,
the private’s grieving mother.
Ani Balıkcı said the military had requested documents from the family
so that they can be a paid monthly survivor’s benefit for their son.
“They wanted an income statement, a statement of assets, Sevag’s
birth certificate and documents indicating his education. But no word
has come yet. I assume they are waiting for the trial to be over,”
she said, referring to the ongoing trial of the private who shot Pvt.
Balıkcı.
His death, which was initially believed to be an accident, is now
thought to have been a hate crime committed because of the victim’s
ethnic background as a person of Armenian origin, based on later
testimony from another private. His shooter might face murder charges
if the possibility of an accident is ruled out.
She noted that her son died while serving in the military. “So if they
consider anyone who dies while in the army a martyr, they should count
my son Sevag as a martyr, too. This is what we are waiting to see.”
Pvt. Sevag Å~^ahin Balıkcı was killed on April 24, 2011, the date
the Armenian diaspora has chosen to commemorate the incidents of
1915, when hundreds of thousands of Armenians died in the Ottoman
Empire during World War I. Officers and other privates in his unit,
which is stationed in Batman province, testified that Balıkcı was
shot accidentally while “joking around” with a close friend, Kıvanc
Agaoglu, who allegedly fired the fatal shot. They were serving at the
Kozluk GumuÅ~_göru gendarmerie station at the time of the incident.
However, Halil EkÅ~_i, a private who witnessed the incident, later
changed his testimony, altering the course of the trial. The next
hearing is on March 29.
During a hearing at the Diyarbakır Second Air Force Command Military
Court on Jan. 30, EkÅ~_i, who served in the military at the same
time as Balıkcı, revised his testimony to say: “Kıvanc pointed
his rifle at Sevag and pulled the trigger. His family had asked me
to testify in his favor,” implying that Agaoglu’s family pressured
him into giving false testimony.
Despite demands made by Cem Halavurt, the Balıkcı family’s lawyer,
the court has decided not to arrest Agaoglu.
In similar situations in the past, religion has not played a role in
determining whether martyr families are entitled to monthly survivor’s
benefits. Incorporating such a criterion would be a violation of
Article 10 of the constitution, which states that all citizens are
equal. Directive no. 439, which lays out the conditions for martyrdom
status, makes no reference to religion.
Bahceli’s words came shortly after Family and Social Policy Minister
Fatma Å~^ahin said the family of slain Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink could be paid regularly as part of the payments program for
martyr families.