CENTRAL NEWS
Kemal Korkut (23) was an undergraduate musicology student, who was shot dead by several plain clothes police officers who stopped him before he entered the venue for Newroz celebrations in the spring of 2017. Kemal Korkut’s brother, Ercan Korkut, spoke to Nuce Ciwan about the day his brother was murdered.
Ercan explained that his brother loved nature very much and that this love always brought him closer to partiotism.
Ercn summarized the life of his brother Kemal Korkut as follows;
“He was born on May 15, 1994 in Malatya where he saw primary and secondary education. He then left school in the second year of high school and did a natural gas business with my brother for a while. He worked with me in Istanbul for about a year. Wishing to studyagain, Kemal returned to Malatya and completed high school to take university exams and be offered a place at Kemal İnönü in the Faculty of Fine Arts.
Kemal always opposed this system. Kemal first exhibited this stance in the Gezi resistance and actively took part in the protests. On his way back to his home town, he witnessed the Ankara Station explosion and Kemal was only seconds away from death in that explosion. Then, Kemal started to see the real face of the state.
Kemal then returned to Kurdistan because Kurdistan attracted him more. He headed to Amed in 2017 Newroz and wanted to meet his people there. He thought he would express himself better on the Amed Newroz. He loved nature very much in his life, he was very sensitive towards animals.”
Stating that no progress has been made in the court case which still continues, Ercan Korkut emphasized that this case has turned into persecution. Stating that they have been at the court gates for three years, Ercan Korkut stated that although everything is so clear and the evidence is so obvious, no action has taken place against the killer.
Ercan Korkut pointed out that while the report in the court proved that the murderer was firing willingly and deliberately at first, the report was later manipulated in the way the killer wanted. He drew attention that this case being seen by the judges is one between the people and the state – and the judges choose the state. The brother drew attention to the last hearing lasting only 5 minutes, and expressed that this was a clear message by Kemal’s murderers.
Stating that patriotism means to live freely with ones own language, culture, language and belief, Ercan Korkut emphasized that Kemal embodied patriotism. The brother concluded by stating that Kemal would have reached his people even if it meant he had to tear down the walls of the state. Kemal Korkut was martyred trying to enter the venue of Newroz celebrations in 2017, after the celebrations were being blockaded by provocative police.
