It has been 31 years since the disappearance of Özgür Gündem newspaper's Riha (Urfa) reporter Nazım Babaoğlu. Babaoğlu never returned from Sewêreg (Siverek) district of Riha, where he had gone for news on March 12, 1994. Although there were suspicions that the Bucak tribe and Gendarmerie Intelligence and Anti-terror Unit (JİTEM), which carried out many unsolved murders in the 1990s, murdered Babaoğlu, no effective investigation was carried out. In the intervening years, despite all the witnesses, the case remained inconclusive. 

 

On the day Nazım Babaoğlu was abducted, Murat Yoğunlu, a newspaper distributor, reportedly called the Riha bureau of Özgür Gündem newspaper and “asked for a reporter to be sent to Siverek”, but Yoğunlu later denied these allegations. Yoğunlu, who later moved to Istanbul, told Mustafa Avcı, the provincial chair of the Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) at the time, “I can explain all of this, but I have no security of life. If they accept me as a secret witness, I will tell them all.” Despite this, Yoğunlu was not listened to either. 

 

Aydın Sevinç, who worked for JİTEM in Riha in 1993, confessed in a fax sent to the Riha Bar Association from Erzirom (Erzurum) Prison in 2011 that Nazım Babaoğlu had been kidnapped, murdered and buried in 1994. In response, Human Rights Association (IHD) Amed (Diyarbakır) Branch officials went to Erzirom to meet with Sevinç, but the meeting did not take place. 

 

Despite all witnesses and confessions, no effective investigation was carried out in the case of Nazım Babaoğlu. Like many “unsolved murders” in Kurdistan in the 1990s, the investigation file on Nazım Babaoğlu was left inconclusive in 2014 due to the statute of limitations. An application to the Constitutional Court (AYM) was also unsuccessful. The Constitutional Court ruled that there was no violation of the right to life, claiming that Babaoğlu was still alive. 

 

On March 18, 2024, it was revealed that the Urfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office launched an investigation in 2021 on the allegation of “terrorist organization membership” against Nazım Babaoğlu, who had been missing for 31 years and was added to the investigation file as “deceased” after the case number was changed in 2015. No information about the content of the file, which is subject to a restriction order, was shared with the family and their lawyers. 

 

'RECKLESS ATTACKS WERE CARRIED OUT'

 

 

Nazım Babaoğlu's older brother Cemal Babaoğlu talked about his brother who disappeared 31 years ago. Cemal Babaoğlu stated that Nazım Babaoğlu was working at Özgür Gündem after graduating from Trade High School and was preparing for university and said, "During 1994, it was raining fire, so to speak. Everyone who carried out activities in the name of Kurdish and democratic politics was targeted. Özgür Gündem had set out with the slogan 'The truth will not remain in the dark'. The newspaper was writing about the lawlessness and massacres during the Tansu Çiler era without fear. For this reason, the newspaper was targeted. In Siverek, the village guard system created by Mehmet Ağar carried out reckless attacks that knew no law. The newspaper exposed them. They thought to themselves, 'If we kill a few reporters, others will retreat. They said 'they won't find a reporter for the newspaper'."

 

'THERE HAS BEEN NO DEVELOPMENT'

 

Reminding that Nazım Babaoğlu was called to Sewêreg for news on March 12, Cemal Babaoğlu said, "Nazım was from Siverek and knew the area, so he went there. We didn't hear from him again. Then it became clear that a conspiracy had been set up. A newspaper seller there, someone Nazım knew, was detained and an atmosphere of trust was given through him. Then this was revealed. Who was detained is known and all of this was handed over to the specially authorized prosecutor. The then Minister Cemil Çiçek made a statement at the time and said 'we will find whoever did it'. The State Minister said these things. Eyewitnesses went to Diyarbakır upon this statement and told what they saw at that time, one by one. They were all recorded. But they were only recorded. The file was sent to the dusty shelves. There was no development. No investigation was carried out."

 

Pointing out that there has been no development in the case file in the intervening 31 years, Cemal Babaoğlu added, "On behalf of my mother in 2001, we applied to a study conducted under the name of 'victims of terrorism' and stated that we were plaintiffs. However, the court rejected it after 5 years. We sent it to the Council of State, which rejected it after 10 years, and we applied to the Constitutional Court, but it also rejected it. The grounds for rejection were cited as 'insufficient evidence'. The case is currently pending at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). At this time last year, there was a development. As a result of IHD's interrogation of the case file, we learned that the Urfa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit against Nazım for 'terrorist organization membership' in 2021. We have no information about the content of the file, there is a confidentiality order. Prosecutors opened a file, but we do not know what they opened it on. In 2015, an investigation was opened against two suspects in connection with the disappearance of Nazım, but we do not know what happened in that file either, no information is shared with us. If information is shared with us about who these suspects are, we can have an idea about who they are and what they have to do with the incident. But we are not given any information."

 

'WE SUPPORT THE CALL AS VICTIMS OF WAR'

 

Stating that they support the call for Peace and Democratic Society made by Kurdish People's Leader Abdullah Öcalan, Cemal Babaoğlu said, "As a victim of the war, we support the call at the point of solving the problems that arise. One Nazım is gone, but not another Nazım. 17,500 unidentified perpetrators and more than 50 thousand people lost their lives. Peoples paid a great price. The worst peace is better than the best war. We want peace. If there is to be social peace, it is necessary to come to terms with the past. There are many people like Nazım who have no grave. Mothers and fathers die asking for a grave. These grave sites are in the archives of the state. How Nazım was disappeared or where he was buried is available in the archives of the Urfa Police and Siverek district Police. It can be found if requested. If we are shown the burial place, we can give up some things with the legal dimension. As long as there is social peace. There should be no more suffering. We will take it to our hearts. Finding the grave place is our biggest demand."

 

MA / Emrullah Acar