40 children orphaned in Mardin massacre
Forty children lost one or both parents to a tragic shooting at an engagement party in Mardin earlier this week that left 44 men, women and children dead. Most of the 40 children who lost one or both parents in the massacre in Bilge Village are very young. Twelve-year-old Yakup Çelebi and his nine younger brothers and sisters lost both their mother and father in the attack -- in addition to aunts and uncles, a grandfather and cousins.
Not old enough to fully comprehend the nature of what happened, young Yakup is in a state of deep shock. He barely escaped death himself, having stayed home instead of going to the engagement so that he could look after his younger siblings.
The sixth grader says he lost a total 39 relatives in the shooting: My mother and father got ready to go on the night of the engagement ceremony, and then left for my uncles home. They left me and my siblings at home. A little later, we heard gunshots, but we didn't know what had happened. My brothers and sisters and I were all hugging each other and crying. We were too afraid to go outside, and we waited until the sounds stopped until we went to see what had happened. After the gunshots, we heard screams and crying. And then when we heard the bad news -- by that time we had already been orphaned."
Another group of siblings, brothers Ahmet, Emrullah and Yunus Çelebi, were also orphaned in the massacre. Emrullah describes how he and his brothers were asleep at home when they awoke to the sound of gunfire. They initially thought it was some sort of terrorist attack, hiding under the covers in fear while waiting for the sounds to subside. Shortly after the gunfire ceased they heard cries of mourning, and they left the house to find out that their mother had been killed. Emrullah says that the three boys older brother, who is in his twenties, will now take care of them.
40 children orphaned in Mardin massacre
Sıddık Çelebi lost her mother, Arife, and her older sister Yasemin in the attack. Sıddık, too, does not seem able to process what has happened, looking around with eyes that stare but do not see.
Many of the young children who lost parents in the attack are now spending most of their time gathered in the home of village elder Hacı Sultan, looking for comfort from this grandmother of many.
SHÇEK: We will look after the children orphaned in this attack
Mardin Social Services regional director Fevzi Hamidi says the state has already begun work to support the scores of children directly affected by the loss of a parent in the village massacre. Noting that a team had been sent by the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK) to the village, Hamidi said: "According to the information we have received, of the 35 children under the age of 18 who lost at least one parent in the attack, 20 lost their mothers and 15 lost their fathers. We will be offering both financial as well as moral support to these children. We are prepared to shelter the children who have been completely orphaned. We first need to speak with their relatives." Hamidi also noted the urgent need for psychological help for children affected by the event, saying: "They have gone through a great shock. We must support the children who have been left without family."
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