After receiving threats from Hezbollah, Recep Diker was disappeared in the center of Diyarbakır province and no news has been received from him since then. Leyla Diker, the wife of Recep Diker, told us that she went to everywhere in hope of finding at least a gravestone and that she and her children have been still waiting for receiving news from him.

MEDİNE MAMEDOĞLU

Amed –Today, we will tell you the story of Recep Diker, one of the disappeared people in the 90s. After being forcibly displaced from his village and received threats, Recep Diker went to Diyarbakır city center. His wife Leyla Diker hasn’t received any news from him since then. She has lived in hope of receiving news from him.

Recep Diker, who lived in the Kayadere (Ferhênde) village of Diyarbakır’s Silvan district, was forced to be a village guard like other villagers. The village was burned down by the soldiers three times after the villagers refused to be village guards. He moved to the center of Silvan after the village had been burned down. Recep Diker received threats by soldiers in the village and by Hezbollah members in Silvan. Recep Diker was told, “If we see you here again, we will kill you,” and he had to move to Diyarbakır to live with his brother Abdurrahman Diker. He found a job and went to his job every day. One day, he left the house to go to his job but he has never returned to the house. No news has been received from him since then. His family reported to police that he was missing but no information was given to the family by the police station and state organizations. Recep Diker was disappeared in 1994 and there is no information, whether he is alive or not.

Ongoing threats even in Silvan

Leyla Diker recalled the days in the 1990s and she said they had received threats everywhere. Leyla Diker told us that they had to leave their village after the village was burned down when the villagers refused to be village guards. Noting that her husband was threatened by Hezbollah members in Silvan, Leyla Diker said, “At that time, many people were detained and killed in Diyarbakır. We left our village to escape from the soldiers but we continued to receive threats. Hezbollah members always threatened my husband. He went to Diyarbakır city center to live with his brother. We received news from him several times but then he was disappeared. We haven’t received any news from him since he was disappeared. No one tells us where he is or what happened to him.”

“We have applied to everywhere for 27 years”

Leyla Diker raised her children in difficulty and suffering after her husband was disappeared, “We applied to every state organization and police station but we received no news. My youngest child was one year old at that time. I raised my children in difficulties and poverty. We faced many difficulties but we overcame all difficulties thanks to the people around us. The only demand of me and my children is to receive news from Recep. We want to know what happened to him, we want to know if he is alive or dead. For 27 years, we have tried to receive news from him. There is no place left we can go to find a piece of his bones or his clothes.”