• Gündem Haberleri

Celalettin Can’s wife: His ideas cannot be imprisoned

78ers Initiative spokesperson and Party Assembly member of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), Celalettin Can, has been in detention for 89 days. Nimet Tanrıkulu spoke about her husband Celalettin Can.

Abone Ol

Celalettin Can is a human rights advocate who has spent 19 years and 9 months of his life in

prison. He is the spokesperson of the 78ers Initiative and Party Assembly member of the

Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP). He is a figure who, in turn, spoke about “peace” in Central

Anatolia while part of the wise people group in 2013 On 7 February 2018, conversely, he

was arrested in a midnight operation staged on his home. Following fourteen days under

arrest, he was then placed in detention. He has been detained in Silivri Prison No 9 for 89

days. He is experiencing health problems. He has been unable to avail himself of the right to

treatment. Can’s wife Nimet Tanrıkulu says, “You can physically imprison people like

Celalettin Can, but you cannot imprison his ideas. Imprisoning people like him takes

democracy further backwards.” I spoke to Tanrıkulu about Celalettin Can’s seemingly

interminable prison days.

- First, what kind of person is Celalettin Can?

 

He is one of the hundreds of thousands of people who was deemed never to have lived and

was forcibly forgotten along with the 12 September Coup; one of the 78 generation. He is a

person who thinks his having spent nearly twenty years of his life in prison, as he puts it,

“requires you to look at the future from a point that understands the new dimensions old

concepts have acquired,” who also discusses the politics, language and required action of the

time with himself and people he shares space with and played a role in bringing the 78

generation on to the stage of history. He is a person who argues that nothing has been

experienced in vain, all the prices that have been paid, and that the cohabitation of peoples is

possible in an equalitarian, libertarian country in which true justice prevails. He is one who

works and struggles for democracy, human rights and an equal and just life. He is a person

who thinks of his debt to those who are beneath the ground and his share in the war in this

country. He is a person who is always on the move, is engaged in struggle and who

experiences the feeling of embracing all the peoples of this country. He is one who is paying

the price in a set-up in which the law does not function.

 

We have a joint presence in life

 

- Were you at home on the evening the police staged the operation on your home?

 

Yes. It was about half past two in the morning. We had just fallen asleep. You know how

they knock at the door. That’s how they knocked that time. We awoke to the sound of a

violent knocking at the door. They partially searched the house. They also left certain parts in

disarray. While conducting the search, they did not bring a female police officer even though

they knew I also lived in the house. They looked right down to my private effects. Celalettin

and I share a joint life in the struggle for democracy and human rights. We have a joint

presence in life. The taking away from home of a person you share your life with puts a

person through something different. It is very hard to describe that moment. But I did not

want to reveal this to those who came and especially to Celalettin.

 

- What was it like during the arrest period?

 

First, 35 people were arrested along with Celalettin. Of these people, Celalettin only knows a

few people. The fourteen-day period under arrest had a negative effect on his health. He was

left in airless and very hot surroundings. They did not give him a portion of his medicines

while under arrest. He is not one to complain greatly. But, we found out that the setting there

negatively affected his health.

 

You come whenever we call

 

- Did you expect him to be detained?

 

I did not. When something happened, Celalettin would be summoned to the Counterterrorism

Branch and make a statement. The police there told him, “You come whenever we call.

Aren’t you afraid we’ll detain you?” Celalettin, in turn, would say, “I want to live in this

country. Of course I’ll come and give a statement. I know that I’m engaged in a correct

struggle.” One week before he was detained the police in fact came to our home again. We

were not at home. He told the security official that he should come to the Counterterrorism

Branch. Celalettin went to the Counterterrorism Branch with his lawyer and gave a statement

for around five hours. Maybe they also wanted to give a signal. It is impossible for Celalettin

to live outside this country and there are years that this country has made him lose. There are

things he wants to do and experience. He is a person who is in love with this soil. He is not a

person to abandon his ties with his friends and comrades and go. On being detained, he was

first taken to Silivri No 5 We know that there is no positive aspect to prison. But, Celalettin

says he felt better in No 5 and certain conditions were better. A while later they took him to

No 9 He stayed on his own for three days. He objected continually to this situation. He was

then assigned to the same ward as Van Metropolitan Municipal Mayor Bekir Kaya. I wrote

seven letters to Celalettin over this period. I wrote at length about life on the outside in my

letters. He was curious. My letters were only given to him last Monday. He was overjoyed to

get the letters and said that it came as a tonic for him.

 

EXAMINATION IN HANDCUFFS

 

- How have prison conditions affected your husband’s health?

 

There were checks that needed to be made on the day he was taken from home. These checks

were not made in prison. Celalettin constantly went for checks because he had had a heart

operation. He needed to have a biopsy. He had given a blood sample. And his biopsy was to

be done on 3 March. But, he was detained and prison management took no steps for a long 

time for the biopsy to be conducted. We constantly notified the Ministry of Justice and prison

management of this situation. Certain of our MP friends also displayed great sensitivity over

this. He was later taken to the Compound Hospital. After the checks had been made, he was

told, “It can continue like this. There is no need for a biopsy.” We kept up our persistence in

response to this reply. At last, two weeks ago they came to the cell he is being held in and

took him to the hospital, saying, “It seems a biopsy is required from you.” He was given an

appointment for 31 May for the biopsy at Cerrahpaşa Medical Faculty to which he was taken.

He is also taken to hospital with his hands cuffed. As to his examination, this is conducted in

the presence of soldiers without the handcuffs being undone. He is searched each time on

entering and leaving the prison.

 

- How are the days passing for you?

 

In the domestic environment, Celalettin and I were always sharing things with one another

while listening to music, reading books or watching something. Sometimes, we listened to

folk songs together at dusk. This is the environment we had. All of this has gone from our

lives, of course.