ANKARA – Mustafa Doğan, the father of Güney Doğan, who lost his life in the Ankara Train Station Massacre on October 10, said: “Their dream was peace. I wish peace existed today, I wish the wars would end.”

 

A commemoration is held on the 10th of every month at Ankara Train Station for the October 10, 2021 Train Station Massacre, which was organised by ISIS targeting the "Peace Rally" on 10 October 2021, in which 103 people lost their lives.

 

For 116 months, Mustafa Doğan has participated in these ceremonies to keep alive the peace dream of his son, Güney Doğan, a third-year civil engineering student at Istanbul Technical University, who had travelled from Istanbul to Ankara to join the rally. 

 

After every commemoration, Doğan visits his son's grave in Istanbul and repeats the same words: “Their dream was peace. I wish there was peace today, I wish the wars would end. Wars bring death and destruction. But peace gives life. That’s why I say peace until the very end.”

 

Reflecting on the atmosphere during the time of the massacre, Doğan said: “There was an intense period of conflict. All unions, students, working people, those who stood for labour and freedom were asking; ‘How can we contribute to peace?’ There was also an ongoing peace process. That massacre marked the collapse of it. They came to that square with dreams, dreams of stopping the war, of ensuring young people in this country wouldn’t die, of shouting for peace, justice, and labour. That was their aim. They dreamed of a peaceful country, where people could breathe, where workers could earn their rights, where justice and law prevailed, a more liveable country.”

 

‘PEACE WILL COME TO THIS COUNTRY’

 

Doğan emphasized that his son had big dreams, saying: “Güney had great hopes, and none were about his personal life. He had freed himself from individual concerns. He used to ask, ‘How can I help poor, working-class children? After I graduate, I’ll use what I earn to educate them.’ His whole dream was to see peace in this country, and for people who live off their labor to be able to breathe and live with dignity. Peace was what he shouted the most. He believed: ‘I will contribute to this, peace will come to this country.’”

 

Saying he has taken on Güney’s legacy, Doğan added: “Since the massacre, I have never left that square. Even if I am the only one left, I will come to that place and shout for peace until I draw my last breath. I wish peace would come, I wish the youth wouldn’t die, I wish there were no prisons, and that people could live in freedom and earn what they deserve. I come here every 10th of the month to keep Güney’s dream alive and to honor the dreams of all those who fell in that massacre. And I will continue to do so. I am on the side of peace. I wish today there were peace, I wish the wars would end. Wars are death and massacre. But peace is life; peace keeps people alive. That’s why I say: peace, freedom, justice, until the very end.”

 

“I WILL NOT GIVE UP HIS STRUGGLE”

 

Doğan concluded: “On the 10th of every month, I have a route. First I come here, then I go to Istanbul. I carry the peace commemoration from here to Güney’s grave and say to him: ‘I went to the place where you fell, and now I am here with you, at your side.’ I will not abandon his struggle; I will continue it to the very end. I’ve been doing this for 116 months and will continue until true peace comes to this country, until my Güney can rest in peace.”

 

MA / Melik Varol