Fatma Gormez, a former school teacher, passed away on January 11 after being purged. Her family’s tragic story is only one example of many who suffer in Turkey during the recent purges.
Fatma and Bekir Gormez, residents of Turkey’s central province of Konya, were employees of a college for years. Their lives changed in 2016, after the notorious coup attempt of July 15. Since then, the Gormez family had been trying to survive the purge. First, their college was shut down by the government with an emergency decree. Then, they lost their jobs, and then Bekir Gormez was arrested one night. The family’s lives were turned upside down, and it was only the beginning of a series of lawless conducts by the Turkish government.
Fatma Gormez, a former school teacher, had to take care of her disabled son alone after her husband’s arrest. She also had hearing difficulties, and without a hearing aid, she was unable to hear. The first shock came when she went to the prison to visit her husband for the first time. The prison management told her that it was not allowed to use hearing aids inside the facility. As a result, the couple could not chat; they could only cry together, divided by a thick glass after being separated for days.
During that difficult time, Fatma Gormez’s kidney problems recurred. Later soon, Gormez found out that she also had a heart condition. She went through serious surgery when her husband was still in prison. However, Fatma Gormez was too weak, and her fragile body could not endure that much pain. She ended up losing a lot of weight and preparing for another surgery. After the second surgery, she applied for a disabled person’s pension, but it was rejected. She had a doctor’s report proving that she was 96 % disabled, but the authorities neglected her request. Ultimately, she ended up becoming completely deaf.
Her son Berk Gormez (14) also had a hearing problem and two surgeries due to bowel obstruction. Fatma Gormez, desperate for help, opened a Twitter account and announced her situation. She kept writing to the authorities and representatives asking for help. The help came from a singer and human rights activist, Haluk Levent, instead of the authorities.
In the first week of January 2018, Fatma Gormez’s son died. He could not see his father during his battle with illness and could not endure the pain he suffered.
The father, Bekir Gormez, was brought to the funeral of his son with handcuffs. His 11-year-old daughter was standing next to him, praying for her older brother.
After the death of her son, Fatma Gormez got weaker, and she got cancer. In the meantime, she had two kidney surgeries, and she weighed only 63 lbs. Eventually, she was taken into intensive care. Her only wish was to have her daughter and husband by her side. But, unfortunately, her last wish of seeing her family together one last time was ignored.
Fatma Gormez passed away on January 11, without her husband on her side. As a last blow to the family, Fatma Gormez’s body was buried hastily by the authorities so that no one could attend the funeral, including her husband. Although it was regulated in Article 116 of the Execution Law that “up to 2 days outside the road time” could be allowed, regime permitted Bekir Gormez to be in the cemetery for few hours during the burial.
The tragic story of the Gormez family is only one example of many who suffer in Turkey during the recent purges.
Source:
https://kronos34.news/tr/purge-in-turkey-the-tragic-story-of-gormez-family/
Babasını tahliye etmediler; ağır hasta 14 yaşındaki Berk hayatını kaybetti
KHK’lı Fatma Öğretmenin çığlığı 1.5 milyona ulaştı, ama eşi hala serbest bırakılmadı
https://www.yeniasya.com.tr/gundem/kanser-hastasi-berk-gormez-tutuklu-babasini-goremeden-vefat-etti_450415
