Born in a village in the Pirsûs (Suruç) district of Riha (Urfa), Mehmet Durak Karak is one of the names who took part in the Kurdish freedom struggle. After the September 12 coup d'état, soldiers raided their village and detained him for the first time along with his father and 6 siblings, Karak was arrested and imprisoned for nearly 4 years. After his release from prison, Karak was forcibly conscripted into the army. He did not give up the struggle under any circumstances and was therefore the target of pressure. 

 

After his military service, Karak was detained and arrested once again and was imprisoned for 8 months. Karak was then arrested in 1989 and imprisoned for 1.5 years. In 1992, Karak was imprisoned for 3 more months and was detained again in 1995, only 2 and a half years after he was released. Karak, who had 6 children, was sentenced to life imprisonment for “disrupting the unity of the state” at the State Security Court after his arrest.

 

Karak was expected to be released on June 17, 2025. However, in September of this year, Karak learned that his parole was completely burned, and the reason given for the burning of his execution was the 3 separate solitary confinement sentences he had received during his 29 years of imprisonment. Karak's parole, which normally expires at the end of 36 years, was written as “until death”. Karak's lawyer Mahmut Vefa filed an objection to the Erzincan execution judge against the verdict. 

 

SOLITARY CONFINEMENT WAS USED AS JUSTIFICATION

 

It is learned that two of these solitary confinement sentences were given in 1996 and 2006, and the last one was given in 2024. It is learned that the 15-day solitary confinement sentence in 1996 was on the grounds of going on a hunger strike against torture in Giresun Prison, the second one in 2006 was on the grounds of “making propaganda for an illegal organization” in a petition he submitted to Maraş Prosecutor's Office while in Maraş Prison, and the last one-day solitary confinement sentence in 2024 was on the grounds that his belongings used in his previous prison were “banned” at the entrance of Erzincan Prison where he was transferred from Urfa Type T Closed Prison against his will. 

 

On the other hand, the term sheet given to Karak lists the end date of his supervision as June 2031 and the release date as “until death”. 

 

SAME PRESSURE SINCE 12 COUP' 

 

Karak's older brother Müslüm Karak said that they learned about the news that Karak's execution was executed in a phone call and stated that they have been subjected to pressure and persecution since the September 12 coup d'état. Karak stated that the same persecution still continues today because they did not step back and said: “We have been a family that has been involved in politics since September 12. We have constantly been subjected to this pressure. My brother Durak was imprisoned many times before 1995. He has been in prison continuously since 1995. He has been in Maraş, Elbistan, Giresun, Siverek, Urfa and finally he was taken to Erzincan. With the last news we received, we learned that his execution was completely burned.” 

 

4 PRISONERS 3 CITIES

 

Stating that there are 4 prisoners from his immediate family, including his nephew and brother in Erzincan, his son in Ankara and his son-in-law in Kırşehir, Karak said: “We are going to Erzincan on Sunday. We are going to see my nephew Baran Karak on Monday and my brother Durak on Tuesday. Then we are going to Ankara. On Thursday we go to see my son İsmet Karak in Sincan Prison and on Friday we go to see my son-in-law Şükrü Karak in Kırşehir Prison. We are such a family. Our life is spent on the road. What we are going through as a family of prisoners shows once again that there is no peace. There is a lot of rhetoric about peace, but what we are experiencing is in front of our eyes.”

 

POLICY AGAINST PRISONERS HAS HARDENED,

 

Stating that the process they are going through is the result of the insolvency of the Kurdish issue and the isolation policy, Karak pointed out that despite the talk of peace in the recent period, the policies against prisoners have become increasingly rigid. 

 

DURAK KARAK WE ARE NOT AFRAID,

 

Karak said the following: “We see that the recent talk of 'peace' is a movie. Is this what peace looks like? They detain 15-20 people every day. They are trying to make us suffer. We have walked this path. We neither stole anyone's money nor interfered with anyone. We fought for our own people. Our path is right and we will continue to walk on this path. And our demand is not for ourselves. We want peace to be achieved as soon as possible and Mr. Öcalan to be free. We want the ill prisoners in prisons to be released as soon as possible. Peace can be achieved with these.”

 

Speaking about the open meeting he had with his brother, Karak quoted his brother Durak Karak as follows: “We are not afraid of their punishment. Only if there is peace will it be meaningful for us to return home. They expect us to say 'we regret'. If we regretted it, we would have said so when we first went to prison. Did we serve so many years for nothing?”

 

THE RESULT OF THE ISOLATION POLICY

 

Adile Salman, one of the family’s lawyers and a member of the Amed Branch of the Association of Lawyers for Freedom (ÖHD), stated that the barring of Karak’s execution was a result of the isolation policy that is getting worse day by day and that they will take the necessary legal action.

 

MA / Ceylan Şahinli