Gökhan Güneş: I was beaten while I was naked, I was threatened with rape

  • actual
  • 09:28 27 January 2021
  • |
img
İSTANBUL - Gökhan Güneş, kidnapped and detained for 5 days, said, "I was beaten while I was naked and threatened with rape."
 
Electric worker Gökhan Güneş, who was abducted on January 20 in Başakşehir, Istanbul, returned to his family home at around 06.00 yesterday morning after being detained for 5 days. Güneş held a press conference and told about what happened to him with his family at the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD). Many political parties supported the press conference organized with the participation of Güneş's family and lawyers.
 
Gökhan Güneş, who was released blindfolded in Istanbul’s Başakşehir district 6 days after he had been kidnapped, spoke about his experiences at a press conference held at the Istanbul Branch of the Human Rights Association (IHD).
 
The press conference was attended by Güneş's family, lawyers, İHD Istanbul Branch chair Gülseren Yoleri and ESP Co-Chair Şahin Tümüklü and was followed by many press members.
 
IHD Istanbul Branch chair Gülseren Yoleri stated that they are happy to be able to meet Gökhan again.
 
Stating that there have been many incidents that justify their concerns, Yoleri underlined the need to show the same sensitivity for everyone who was abducted or disappeared under police custody and said, “No news can be received from Hüseyin Galip Küçüközyiğit, who was abducted in Ankara on December 29. His daughter conveyed that she is happy to see Gökhan meet his family, saying that she also wished to meet her father.”
 
Gökhan Güneş has bruises under his left eye and on his hands. Recounting the events of the last few days, he said that he was on his way to work on January 20, telling the following: "At about twelve o'clock I got off the bus. There were four people on the sidewalk at the bus stop. One of them approached me. When I turned around, all four of them rushed at me together. At that moment I saw that there had become more of them. They tried to force me into a vehicle. I resisted and backed away. To break my resistance, they used a stun gun. I did not regain consciousness until I was in the car. Two people were holding my arms. They bent me down and pulled a bag over my head. Then they put me in another vehicle. They took me to a place. I could not see anything and I was not told where and in which place I was.
 
After we went inside, torture methods were applied systematically and at intervals. The torture ranged from electric shocks to beatings to hosing down with cold water. Sometimes I was left naked, sometimes I still had my underwear on. I was threatened with rape. There was an area called the 'grave'. There you could only stand and not move your arms. You were locked in there blindfolded with your hands tied behind your back. Threats were made and offers were made. This went on arbitrarily.
 
At last I had assumed that I would be released the day before. I felt that something like this was being prepared. But then they didn't let me go after all. They said that I should cooperate with them. Later, they asked several times if I knew who they were. I answered that they were probably from the secret service. They did not say anything about that. However, they said several times that they were 'the invisible."
 
Regarding his release, Güneş told the following; "It was probably in the morning when I was put into a vehicle. My eyes were blindfolded. There were an estimated four people there. Before that, they gave me clothes. Except for the pants, none of it was mine. Underwear, stockings and shirt I got from them. Before they started, they cleaned my body. After I got dressed, they sprayed perfume on my jacket. Before they let me go, one of them, whom they called the chief, said: 'I didn't take anything from you, only your SIM card.' I asked why. He didn't answer that and just told me to get a new card from the same or another provider."
 
In the car, his head was again pushed down by two people. Before he got out, the bag was pulled off his head. "They told me to start walking and in no case to look behind. I started walking and opened my eyes. They had put absorbent cotton on my eyes and taped them shut. I didn't have a phone and couldn't call anyone. It was early in the morning. Finally, I asked a security guard to call me a cab. I got in the cab and went to my family's apartment."
 
In response to questions from journalists, Güneş said that the journey after his abduction took about an hour and a half. The room in which he was held for days resembled a padded cell and racist music was played over loudspeakers.
 
Gökhan Güneş concluded by thanking everyone who stood up for him. He emphasized that he was released because of his political identity as a socialist: "This is a policy of the 1990s that is being applied again today. Probably it will continue in the coming period. With this method, he said, the struggle cannot be marginalized; adding that he himself will continue to fight.
 

View More Articles

18/06/2021
14:49 Taxi driver: We took him to the HDP building frequently
13:38 Murderer of Deniz Poyraz arrested
12:36 Poyraz statement from Demirtaş: We know the perpetrator
12:24 New application submitted by Öcalan's attorneys, family and guardian
12:22 Footage of killer Gencer: Wearing gloves in the middle of summer
12:05 Statement from jailed women politicians of HDP
11:53 First conversation between police and Gencer: what's your name bro
11:44 Police erased camera records of HDP building
10:52 Prisoners on hunger strike for 204 days
10:44 Killer of Deniz Poyraz sent to court
10:44 Peace Mothers to the KDP: You are the next target
10:00 Mother and father of Deniz Poyraz: She's the daughter of all of us now
09:24 Mother of murdered Deniz Poyraz: I stand strong, I won't cry!
09:23 HDP İzmir Co-chair Baydur: Police did not respond and stopped me from helping
17/06/2021
17:51 HDP Co-Chair Sancar: We had a meeting there, a massacre was planned
15:20 Assailant of İzmir HDP building trained in Syria!
15:04 Çepni: Minister of Interior organized the attack
14:33 Mother of Deniz, murdered in HDP building: My daughter is gone, thousands will be coming
12:56 HDP: It is the government that points our party as a target
12:16 Assailant who stormed the HDP İzmir Provincial Building killed the party member he took hostage
11:56 HDP İzmir Provincial Building set on fire
11:53 Şenyaşar Family: Isn't there one state official with conscience to hear our voice?
11:52 Fire caused by Turkish military operation in Bitlis continues
11:52 Aydeniz: Turkey wants Kurds to fight a war among themselves
10:21 Letters and conversations with visiters to be recorded in prisons
10:05 Kobané Case attorney: One-man regime in effect in court
09:29 180 Peshmerga lays down arms
09:29 Hunger strike action in prisons enters day 203
16/06/2021
12:54 Soma miners trial: Families leave Court
11:25 Bitlis governor imposes ban on actions and events until 30 June
11:21 Hunger strike action in prisons enters day 202
15/06/2021
16:36 4 HDP politicians released in Kobané Case
15:33 Şenyaşar Family: So many laws, no justice
15:32 Lawyers of Öcalan submit new application for a visit in İmralı
14:44 HDK's new spokespersons: The Kurdish question is the dominant factor
13:55 The grain confiscated in North and East Syria was shared among TMO Urfa Office illegally in Urfa
13:33 Peshmerga Commander: Let's form a front against civil war
10:48 41st group takes over the rotating hunger strike
10:47 'They used to burn villages, now they are setting forests on fire'
10:20 HDP Committee visiting Maxmur: It could have been a massacre!
09:43 Kobané Case: Court Board is following orders
14/06/2021
15:05 International Day of the Right to a Fair Trial: Pretence of fair trial must end
14:44 Lawyers of Öcalan submit new application for a visit in İmralı
13:23 Campaign from Peace Delegation in Hewlér
12:59 Kobanî trial: Request for recusal rejected again
12:58 Şenyaşar family demanding justice for 3 years: Perpetrators passing by us everyday
12:57 Kobanê Case prosecutor conducts different investigations with the same anonymous witness
11:14 Hunger strike on day 200: Only goal is the freedom of Öcalan
10:53 Revend: KDP and MIT will kill civilians and hold PKK responsible
12/06/2021
15:39 Peshmerga Commander Sengawî to KDP: I won't fire a single bullet at PKK even all hell breaks loose