The labourer who set himself alight in front of parliament speaks

It has emerged that construction worker Sıtkı Aydın, who suffered burns after setting himself alight in front of Parliament yesterday, had been unemployed for five years after suffering a work accident and had undergone a mental breakdown because he was struggling to get by. Aydın explained that his actual aim had not been to burn himself, and he had staged an action of this kind to make his voice heard
 
“I voted for Erdoğan but I couldn’t get anyone to listen to my problems”
 
Hatice Özkartal filmed Sıtkı Aydın’s interview with Tuğba Özer of İleri Haber. The labourer, saying that his aim had not been to burn himself and he had come out into the street against the coup and had previously voted for Erdoğan, spoke of his inability to make his voice heard before and how nobody had listened to him.
 
“I hit the ground from the third floor”
 
“I was born in Samsum’s Çarşamba. I did my military service to the nation to the utmost. I also did my citizenship duty to the utmost. In 2013, I had a work accident at Sinpaş Altınoran. I landed on my back from the third floor. It’s actually a miracle I’m alive. I had seven broken ribs and trauma in my brain. A claim was filed and my witnesses were heard. Since 2013, they have just kept dismissing the court. One of the two judges turned out to be a FETOist. The other went on holiday. They just adjourn the court.”
 
“I had a mental breakdown because of the debts”
 
“To get justice, I took out loans twice and paid the lawyer. I managed to pay part of it and I couldn’t pay the rest. I suffered a psychological crisis. I wrote petitions three times to the Presidential Complex. They submitted them in person. To the fax number. Four months have passed and no reply has come to the petitions. I saw Kadir Topbaş in Gebze. I spoke of my difficulties. He took my phone number and said he would help. He turned out to be all talk, too.”
 
“I wasn’t aiming to burn myself”
 
“I tried to handle legal things on my own. I couldn’t do anything. I had a mental breakdown because of the debt. I tried to make my voice heard in front of parliament. I got the petrol, but I wasn’t aiming to burn myself. I made this kind of attempt. They surrounded me and I told them to keep back from me. How about calling MPs from inside, how about calling Tayyip Erdoğan? I came here to make my voice heard.”
 
“I said, ‘I’m sick of my life’”
 
“I said, ‘I had a work accident in 2013. I’m sick of my life. I’m having a mental breakdown.’ With them trying to grab me from the right and left, I lit the lighter. If they hadn’t intervened and had told me to calm down, I wouldn’t have lit the lighter.”
 
“I voted for Tayyip”
 
“I previously voted for Tayyip. If someone’s guilty of rape or they kill somebody they walk out of the other door. I worked with the sweat of my brow. I hit the ground from the third floor. It’s a miracle I’m alive. It’s been five years. My papers have been looked at and my witnesses heard but it still hasn’t come to an end.”
 
“They chucked me out like a dog’s corpse”
 
“I couldn’t do my job for six months. I just saw four walls for three months. Sinpaş dumped me at the door like a dog’s corpse and cleared off. I called accounting a month later and they said they’d deposited money for me. I went to the bank and they’d deposited 300 lira. And I took legal action.”
 
“I had no intention of burning myself. I just wanted an MP to come and listen to a construction worker’s problem.”
 
Construction worker Sıtkı Aydın said in an interview he gave to İnşaatiş.org that his sole aim had been for an MP to come and listen to his problems.
 
“I just went in front of parliament to make my voice heard. I had no intention of burning myself when I went. I just wanted an MP to come and listen to a construction worker’s problem, and know what we’re going through. If an MP had come nothing would have happened. I leaned against the wall and waited with the can of petrol in my hand. While I was waiting for an MP, the police approached me. I wasn’t actually going to do anything. Seeing the police like that I couldn’t help myself. I poured petrol over myself and lit the lighter and set myself on fire. Is it really necessary to die just to speak to an MP?”