We have drawn attention to the heinous murder of 65 years old Ayşe Öz and her 8 years old daughter Fatma in our previous piece.

There were some other residents of Xanike who were also targeted by PKK in 90s. One of them was Hüseyin Demirel and the other one was Abdulgafur Baldı.

Threatened many times by PKK due to his Islamic services, Hüseyin Demirel was one of the residents of Xanike who was killed by PKK on July 29, 1992. Demirel was quoted that he was constantly saying to her mother, who wished eagerly to espouse him, ‘I will get marry in heavens’.

In our file of Xanike martyrs, we will present his life to you. Born in 1972, Hüseyin Demirel was menaced by PKK many times to stop telling Islam to people and other Islamic activities in the village. Despite these threats, he enhanced his exertion for his cause.

 “He was slain for living and animating Islam in the hearts”

Having a long term friendship with Hüseyin Demirel, Mehmet Siraç Talyhan said that he was a very determined and sincere person, once he was acquainted with Islamic cause he sacrificed his everything in his cause.

Talayhan spoke about those days: “We have been together with martyr Hüseyin for a long time. We were frequenters of the village mosque. He was teaching Quran to the young people. He cared with their problems. These young people loved him in a short time. He was a very modest brother. He wasn’t married. Let me tell you a meaningful memory about this. His mother told him ‘I have some jewelries, I will sell them to espouse you.’ Martyr Hüseyin told her ‘do not sell your jewelries but with God will, I will get marry in heaven.’ Just a month before his martyrdom, he was saying that he had no taste of this world, he wished to attain heaven. And at last he earned what he was longing for.”

“They first insulted Islam then they martyred him”

Reminding the martyrdom day of Hüseyin, Talayhan said: “He went to Nusaybin for a business. Of course PKK militants were following him. They first insulted Islam before him then they martyred him. He was a kind of a person that never wasted even one of his days. He either was reading a book or reciting Quran or performing prayers. May our Lord accept his martyrdom.”

“I praised to God first when I heard about his martyrdom”

Auntie Zeynep, Abdulgafur Bal’s mother, said her son was martyred for the cause of Prophet and added that: “Thanks God we raised our children in a good manners. Not even for a single day, anyone came to our door and complained about our son. He was martyred 23 years ago. I was feeling strange on the day he was martyred. I got up very early on that day, and felt unease. No one had told me anything. After a couple of hours, my husband came and told me that Abdulgafur was martyred. The first words I uttered were praising God. Then, our neighbors and some other believers came to our house. Everybody was in a sorrow; he was a harmless and beloved person. Then he was interred in the village cemetery. He sacrificed his life for the cause of Allah and His prophet.” (ILKHA)