Emine Ocak, a leading figure in Turkey’s decades-long campaign against enforced disappearances, has died aged 89. She was one of the founding members of the Saturday Mothers (Cumartesi Anneleri), a group of families who have held weekly vigils demanding justice for relatives abducted by Turkish state forces and never seen again.

The Saturday Mothers began their peaceful sit-ins in Istanbul’s Galatasaray Square in May 1995, calling on authorities to investigate the fate of hundreds who were forcibly disappeared during and after the military coup of the 1980s and the state of emergency in the 1990s. To date, no one has been held accountable.

Ocak’s fight began in 1995 when her 30-year-old son, Hasan, was taken into custody amid political unrest in Istanbul. Authorities denied detaining him for nearly two months. His tortured body was eventually found in an unmarked grave in a cemetery reserved for unidentified corpses.

Her case became emblematic of a wider pattern of state-linked abductions that have persisted in Turkey for decades.

Emine Ocak spent years pursuing every legal channel, attending court hearings and filing petitions. In April 1995, she was sentenced to a month in prison, reportedly for raising her voice during a hearing.

On 27 May 1995, families of other disappeared individuals gathered in a public statement outside Galatasaray High School, founding the Saturday Mothers. Their silent sit-ins became a potent symbol of civil resistance.

In 1999, the gatherings were banned following an order from the then-Interior Minister. Despite repeated police interventions and detentions, the protests have continued. In August 2018, during the group’s 700th weekly vigil, police dispersed the crowd by force. Ocak, then 83, was pushed to the ground and detained, drawing domestic and international condemnation.

Undeterred, she continued to speak out: “If we stop, this country will keep protecting those who get away with it.” She repeatedly questioned why those responsible for her son’s detention have........

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