Biography
Ferdane Kılıç born in 1960 in the village of Mezit near İnegöl, Turey. In her youth she began to work in Circassian associations. She became the speaker of the Socialist Women’s Assemblies in Bursa, Turkey and participated in the founding processes of the Democratic Congress of Peoples and the Democratic Party of Peoples (HDP). She took part in the HDP party conference as a representative of the Circassian women. In the local elections of 2015, she was elected as the co-mayor candidate of the HDP in Bursa. Ferdane Kılıç was among those who responded to the call of the Federation of Socialist Youth Clubs (SGDF) and went to Suruç.
Date
20.07.2015
Place
Suruç, South-Eastern Turkey
Description
The attack occurred when, at the call of the Federation of Socialist Youth Associations (SGDF), 300 young people gathered at the Amara Cultural Centre to hold a press conference before their departure for Kobanê. The planned trip to northern Syria was intended to be an act of solidarity. The young people wanted to take children’s toys and humanitarian aid supplies to the city destroyed by the ISIS.
Ferdane Kılıç was one of the 33 young people killed in the IS bombing in Suruç ,South-Eastern Turkey.
Current legal situation
In the indictment, which was prepared by the General Prosecutor’s Office of Urfa 18 months after the massacre, three defendants, only one of whom was in prison, were sentenced to 104 years in prison. The only defendant, Yakup Şahin, who had not fled did not attend the hearing. The other defendants, Deniz Büyükçelebi and İlhami Ballı, were in Syria according to the prosecution. The trial for the Suruç massacre began 21 months after the incident on 4 May 2017 before the 5th Heavy Penal Court on the campus of the Urfa Penitentiary Authorities in Hilvan. When officials were put on trial for the massacre on January 9, 2017, a fine of 7,500 TL was imposed on Mehmet Yapalıal, the then district police president, for “negligence and misconduct”. In the second case, in which officials were brought to justice, there were two policemen as defendants. The police officers were brought before the Suruç Criminal Court of First Instance for “misconduct”.
