AMED – It has been 33 years since journalist-writer Musa Anter (Apê Musa) was murdered. Abdullah Ocalan said the following about Musa Anter:  “He was a true patriot. He was murdered by the contras because he was like that. He acted like a party on his own.”

 

After 33 years murder of Musa Anter perpetrators were not revealed, the case was dropped due to statute of limitations. Musa Anter (Apê Musa), who described his life as "memories of Kurdish and Kurdistan", was born in 1920 in Sitilililê rural neighbourhood of Nisêbîn (Nusaybin) district of Mêrdîn (Mardin). 

 

He attended primary school in his hometown Mêrdîn, and secondary and high school in Adana. As his father was ill and bedridden, he was raised by his mother Fesla Anter. While studying high school in Adana, he experienced his first detention and was detained for 15 days. 

 

After graduating from high school, he enrolled in the Faculty of Literature in Istanbul, and one year later he started to study law. He graduated from the first three years of the school with the first rank. He left the school in the fourth year after his first place was unjustly taken away from him. In 1944, he got married. His son Anter was born in 1945, his daughter Rahşan in 1948 and his son Dicle Anter in 1950.

 

HE EMBRACED HIS TOUGHTS AGAINS UNJUSTICE

 

Anter began to part in political activities in the 1950s. In his book “My Memoirs”, he pointed to Hobbes’ words, “Political ideas are like felt, the more they are beaten, the denser and more valuable they become” and said: “The more injustice and torture I was subjected to, the more attached I became to my ideas.”

 

In the following period, he started to write articles in Şark Postası and Dicle Kaynağı newspapers. After 1958, he came to Amed (Diyarbakır). Together with Yusuf Azizoğlu and Canip Yıldırım, he published the newspaper İleri Yurt. He was detained in 1959 for the poem "Qîmîl" and taken to Istanbul. He was tried in pre-trial detention in the case known as the "49's Trial" and was tried with his friends by death penalty. On 27 May 1960, he benefited from the amnesty issued after the military coup d'état.

 

During his imprisonment, he wrote the theatre piece "Birîna Reş" and a Kurdish-Turkish dictionary. After his release from prison, he published the magazine Deng together with Medet Serhat and Ergün Koyuncu. The magazine was closed down after a short time and all three were put on trial. Anter, who wrote for Barış Dünyası and Yön, went back to prison on 3 June 1963. He was imprisoned for about 2 years in Mamak, Sultanahmet and Balmumcu prisons respectively.

 

HE SAID 'LET ME DIE IN MY HOMELAND', AND DID NOT LEAVE

 

In 1969, together with Mehmet Gümüş Şahiner, he published the Doğu Magazine. He was arrested for the slogan "Long live the Turkish-Kurdish brotherhood" on the cover of the second issue of the magazine. He was taken to Ankara and tried with 4 of his friends with the death penalty. However, he was released after 15 days. He was among the founders of the Revolutionary Eastern Culture Organizations (DDKO). At this time, he was detained again and taken to Amed. He was acquitted in the DDKO and Turkish Kurdistan Democratic Party (T-KDP) cases after 32 months of imprisonment.

After his release from prison, he settled in Sitililî, his hometown. Anter lived a life of pressure, detention and threats and he took part in the founding of the People's Labour Party (HEP) in 1988. He was among the founders of the Mesopotamia Cultural Centre (MKM) and the Kurdish Institute, which were established in the early 90s. He wrote many articles in Dicle-Fırat, Azadiya Welat, Yeni Ülke, Özgür Gündem, Rewşen and Tewlo, Deng, Barış Dünyası and Yön magazines. In addition to his writings, he published 7 books and a Kurdish-Turkish dictionary. In his book "My Memories", Anter described his insistence on not leaving his homeland despite all the pressures as follows: "Let me at least die in my homeland instead of carrying my bones to my homeland."

 

MURDERED BY JITEM

 

During the 12 September 1980 military coup d'état, he was arrested for making "Kurdish" propaganda and sent to Nusaybin Prison. During this period he was imprisoned for a total of 11 years. On 20 September 1992, he was murdered by Gendarmerie Intelligence Anti-terror Unit (JİTEM) in Seyrantepe neighbourhood of Yenişehir district of Amed, where he had gone to attend a culture and arts festival. 

 

As with the unsolved murders in the 1990s, no progress was made in the Anter case. In the early 2000s, the Anter family took the case to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). On 19 December 2006, the ECtHR ruled that "the right to life was violated and the murder was not effectively investigated" and sentenced Turkey to compensation. 

 

HE CONFESSED MURDER

 

JITEM confessor Abdulkadir Aygan stated that Major Ahmet Cem Ersever, one of the founders of JİTEM, Mahmut Yıldırım codenamed "Yeşil (Green)", JİTEM members Mustafa Deniz, Savaş Gevrekçi, Ali Ozansoy, confessor Cemil Işık (Hogir) and Hamit Yıldırım had committed the murder. Following the confessions of JİTEM confessor Aygan, the case progressed with the arrest of the shooter Hamit Yıldırım in Şirnex (Şırnak) on 29 June 2012. 

 

On 25 June 2013, an indictment was prepared against Hamit Yıldırım, Mahmut Yıldırım codenamed "Yeşil", Abdülkadir Aygan and retired Colonel Savaş Gevrekçi on charges of "intentional killing and inciting the public to armed rebellion". However, none of the perpetrators were arrested except Hamit Yıldırım. At the hearing in June 2017, defendant Hamit Yıldırım was released on the grounds of "long detention".

 

MERGED WITH JITEM CASE

 

The case was cumuled with the JİTEM Main Case on 23 December 2014. The case was transferred from Diyarbakır 2nd High Criminal Court to Ankara 6th High Criminal Court on the grounds of "security" in January 2015. Ankara 6th High Criminal Court objected to the consolidation decision. With the decision of the 5th Criminal Chamber of the Court of Cassation dated 29 January 2016, the merger of the two cases became final. The final hearing of the case, which was merged with the main JİTEM case and the case of Ayten Öztürk, who was killed by Mahmut Yıldırım, code-named "Yeşil", in 1993, was held on 21 September 2022 at Ankara 6th High Criminal Court. The Anter Case was separated from the JİTEM Main Case and it was decided to drop the case due to statute of limitations.