A former teacher who was fired by government decree in 2016 for participating in a public campaign critical of military operations’ impact on children in Turkey’s southeastern provinces has died of stomach cancer, the TR724 news website reported.
Songül Aslan, 45, died on Sunday after a four-year battle with the disease. According to Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, a deputy from the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party), Aslan had been under immense stress since her dismissal, which he said had taken a toll on her health and worsened her condition.
Aslan was one of the teachers to join the “Don’t Let Children Die” campaign that was initiated by teacher Ayşe Çelik, who called in to the popular “Beyaz Show“ on January 8, 2016 and urged authorities to take action to prevent the killing of children in clashes between Turkish security forces and the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
During the TV program, Çelik said: “Are you aware of what’s going on in the country’s east? What’s happening here is misrepresented on television. Don’t stay silent! Please show more sensitivity as human beings! See us, hear us and give us a hand! I’d like to address the teachers who have abandoned their students. How are they going to return there? How are they going to look those innocent children in the eye? What a pity! Don’t let people die. Don’t let children die. Don’t let mothers cry.”
The host of the program, Beyazıt Öztürk, had the audience applaud her by saying: “We are trying our best to make it heard. Your words have been a lesson for us. We will continue to do more. Hopefully your wishes for peace will be realized as soon as possible.”
Following the show, the Diyarbakır Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office launched an investigation into Çelik for “praising terrorism and a terrorist organization,” and the Bakırköy Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office initiated a separate investigation into Öztürk and Çelik on similar charges.
In 2018, Çelik was sentenced to one year, three months in prison on terrorism-related charges. She was accompanied by her baby I prison but was later released on parole.
Aslan was one of thousands of public servants to be summarily fired by government decree. Turkey’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) government declared a state of emergency (OHAL) following an abortive putsch on July 15, 2016 that remained in effect until July 19, 2018. During the state of emergency the AKP carried out a purge of state institutions under the pretext of an anti-coup fight by issuing a number of government decrees, known as KHKs, firing over 130,000 civil servants from their jobs due to their real or alleged connections to “terrorist organizations.”
Aslan was commemorated by other victims of the government purge. Activist Münir Korkmaz, who was also dismissed by government decree, said in a social media post that it was a tragedy Aslan died before justice was served and she could be reinstated.
The Adıyaman branch of the Education and Science Union (Eğitim-Sen) also expressed its sorrow over Aslan’s passing, saying the past nine years had been marked with her struggle for justice.
