In commemoration of Vedat Aydin, the Human Rights Association requested that the investigations and cases be conducted effectively, that the expiration of time not apply in cases of torture and crimes against humanity,and that perpetrators stand trial and receive the punishments they deserve. Vedat Aydin's way of struggle, closely connected to humanitarian values, continues to support us despite the 32 years that passed since he was murdered, in our struggle for human rights and the rule of law. We remember Vedat Aydin and all our citizens who participated in and died in the events at his funeral," said the Human Rights Association in their statement reiterating the request for justice 32 years after the murder of rights defender and politician Vedat Aydin.

Arrested after speaking Kurdish

Vedat Aydin became known by all after he was arrested after speaking in Kurdish at the general assembly of the Human Rights Association (IHD) on October 28, 1990.

Aydin was elected the chairperson of the Diyarbakir branch of IHD in 1990. At the general assembly of IHD, he was taken into custody together with lawyers Ahmet Zeki Okçuoglu and Mustafa Özer who translated his speech into Turkish. He was arrested after days of questioning.

He also gave his statement in Kurdish in the first hearing on December 19, 1990, and he was acquitted.

Killed during denied detention in 1991

Vedat Aydin was elected the chairperson of the Diyarbakir branch of HEP, People's Labor Party in June in 1991.

He was taken into custody by some persons introducing themselves as police officers on July 5, 1991, who told him that they were going to take his statement.

The authorities did not accept the custody despite the applications by his family and his lawyers. He was found dead on July 7, 1991, under a bridge in Maden, Elazig. It was determined that he was killed after being tortured.

Fire opened at his funeral

Tens of thousands of people attended his funeral on July 10, 1991; but a fire was opened on the crowd. The official announcement was that three people died (23 people according to Hanife Avci, the then-chair of the intelligence unit of Diyarbakir police headquarters) and hundreds were injured including MPs and journalists.

"Unidentified" murder despite confessions

Abdülkadir Aygan, a Gendarmerie Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism Organization (JITEM) member, who was later on the agenda with his confessions, told about the murder of Aydin in the 2000s; but even so, the perpetrators could not be identified. The investigation of the murder of Vedat Aydin was closed in 2021 due to the expiration of time.

Kurdish intellectual and journalist Musa Anter was killed one year after the killing of Vedat Aydin

Source: English Bianet