Mustafa Zümre was forced to leave his country due to unproven arrests and tortures in Turkey. Mustafa Zümre was an engineer at the 15th Missile Command. He was detained after 15 July and was subjected to severe torture. After he was released with judicial control, he decided to go abroad with his family. When his vehicles were checked at the border, he threw himself into the waters of Meriç, 3 months later his body was found by the villagers in Tekirdag on the shore of  Meriç.

 A LIFE LOSE ON THE WAY TO FREEDOM…

On March 8, 2017, the body of a man in his 30s washed up on the banks of the Meriç River. The person found was Mustafa Zümre, a computer engineer who had to leave his homeland after the torture he suffered in prison, saying, “If they take me again, I won’t be able to get out alive.” Like Sabahattin Ali, he died in Meriç on the way to freedom. Thousands of people had to leave their country illegally due to the unproven arrests and tortures in Turkey. Especially those who were targeted by the media close to the government were detained by the prosecutors of the regime on the grounds of the news. Mustafa Zümre, who was an engineer in the 15th missile command, was also one of the victims of this trap. It was claimed in the government media that Mustafa Zümre “is a member of a terrorist organization, works in Havelsan(air technology industry) and has cosmic information.” However, Zümre had never worked at Havelsan. However, he could not find a media outlet or a court to refute this false news. The defamation news about him caused him to be expelled from the original institution he worked for.

THEY DID EVERY KIND OF TORTURE, AND IF THEY ARREST ME AGAIN, THEY WON‘T LET ME LIVE…

Mustafa Zümre believed in democracy and law. Despite all his means, he did not go abroad. He wanted to stay in his country and support those who were subjected to oppression and persecution like himself and defend their rights. This thought was also a threat to the Erdogan regime. Mustafa Zümre was detained on the grounds of helping victims’ families and allegedly being a member of a terrorist organization. He was tortured for days. He was released on condition of judicial control when sufficient evidence could not be found against him. His relatives were asking Mustafa Zümre what he was going through in detention. Human dignity was not enough to tell. “They tried prototypes of everything you can think of about torture on me. If they take me again, they will not leave me alive this time.” He could not bear those tortures again. He started making plans to leave Turkey.

TO THE COAST OF MERIC WITH HIS CHILDREN

Mustafa Zümre had no choice but to go abroad illegally. On 12 December 2016, he took his wife Esra and their 1.5 and 3 year old children with him, and set off to cross the Meriç River to Greece. Mesut Yaşar, who was dismissed like himself, was on the road to freedom with them. The 22 UN 913 plated vehicle hired by the guide they found was spotted by the gendarmerie near Umurca Village. The guide, who did not obey the ‘stop’ warning and drove the vehicle to the military forbidden zone on the Greek border, realized that he could not escape any longer, stopped the vehicle and started running.

FAREWELL TO HIS WIFE AND HOPE OF SALVATION IN MERIÇ WATERS

What Mustafa Zümre feared had happened to him. They were caught. The result would be arrest again. He didn’t want to experience the repetition of his torture. Mustafa Zümre looked at his wife, who was holding her hands tightly. “I have no salvation if I fall into their hands,” he said. After a momentary goodbye, he ran and threw himself into the cold waters of Meriç. After swimming for a while, he disappeared before he could cross. The gendarmerie detained the occupants of the vehicle. The work has been started to search for the Zümre. However, the diver teams, who learned that Zümre was wanted on the grounds of his proximity to the Hizmet Movement, stopped calling after a while.

After the Hürriyet newspaper and the press organs called the mainstream media, together with the regime newspapers, with the headlines “FETO-affiliated engineer expelled from HAVELSAN jumped to Meriç”, Havelsan made a statement: “The news does not reflect the facts. The person named Mustafa Zümre mentioned in the aforementioned news has never worked for Havelsan during the 34 years since the company was founded.

HER BODY WAS FOUND IN MERIÇ 3 MONTHS LATER

It’s been 3 months. There was still no news from Mustafa Zümre. His wife, who had been taken into custody the day they were caught, was released on condition of judicial control. On March 8, in Tekirdağ’s Subasi Village, 6 km from where Mustafa Zümre jumped into the water, the villagers found a man’s body washed up on the shore. Identification done. The lifeless body belonged to Mustafa Zümre. The engineer, who disappeared in the raging waters of the Meriç River, lost the fight.

Mustafa Zümre was buried by his family in Hatay, silently and in tears. All he wanted was to live freely in his country with his ideas and values. Even after his body was found, the fake news about him was continued by the media of the regime. The perpetrator of Mustafa Zümre was not the raging waters, but the orderly press organizations. He shared the same fate with Sabahattin Ali. Sabahattin Ali, a man of letters who spent years in prison on the grounds that he was against the government, had also set out to cross the Bulgarian border in order not to be imprisoned again, like Mustafa Zümre, and died on the way to freedom.

SOURCES:

https://bitenhayatlar.com/15-temmuz-sonrasi-kararan-hayatlar-mustafa-zumre/