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unimaginable except as part of an ongoing exchange of narratives with others. Voice, necessarily
involves us in an ongoing process of reflection, exchanging narratives back and forth between our
past and present selves, and between us and others. The voice of each of us, our history of reflection
and self‐interpretation, is part of our embodied history.” 10
Based on this, it is possible to argue that is history ‘missing’, or are we ‘missing’ an important part
of our history as a society unless we hear their stories and their voices. Below are a few example of
the stories that are lost in between the lines of alternative media coverage that majority of the
Turkish public have never heard and most probably will never hear either:
May 27, 1995 The Very First Gathering of the Saturday Mothers at Galatasaray Square: “Hasan
Ocak was taken into custody. He disappeared just like hundreds of others, then found dead. We want
the murderers” 11
In 449th Week, the Saturday Mothers/People gathered to commemorate Abdülkerim Yurtseven,
Mikdat Özeken and Münür Sarıtaş who ‘disappeared’ in 1995: “Why the eyes, which see us are so
blind?” 12
The 470th meeting of the Saturday Mothers was for Nurettin Yedigöl who disappeared while he
was in custody 33 years ago: “He has disappeared 33 years ago, they still send election certificate to
our address.” 13
The Saturday Mothers gathered for the 415th time at Galatasaray Square for Rıdda Yavuz: “She
was 24 when she was taken into custody with two others. They were all wounded after the soldiers’
fire into the crowd during a protest. Her family’s legal attempts to find her yielded no results.” 14
The Saturday Mothers and human rights activist gathered for the 313th time at Galatasaray
Square to demand justice for Yusuf Erişti, who was taken into custody in 1991, in İstanbul. His sister
Zeynep Erişti said: “We know he is dead, but we still wait for him.” 15
The stories that I read while I was writing this paper were very heavy even just to read, the pain
and suffering of people who lost their loved ones are beyond imagination. There are no words to
explain the sorrow on their faces while they’re holding the photographs of their sons, daughters,
husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. By showing the faces of the disappeared
they are re‐humanizing them, taking them out of the inhumane and cold statistics and numbers,
giving them a face and reminding the public that they are still loved and missed and they are there to
reclaim justice for them, reclaim their stolen stories.
To conclude, based on the above discussion about voice and narrative, I’d argue, it is clear that
alternative media’s coverage and reports on the Saturday Mothers contribute to forcing the State
and society’s collective memory keep on remembering the stories of the disappeared. By marking
their faces, by telling their stories, by challenging the official records, by demanding justice and by
reclaiming the recent history, which was attempted to be written by forgetting the lives that are lost
all through the dark periods of the country.
Keywords: Alternative media, Saturday mothers, Strategy of silence
Associate Prof.Berrin YANIKKAYA
Yeditepe University, Faculty of Communications, Department of Radio, Television & Cinema
berriny@yeditepe.edu.tr