Our news file, regarding the life of villagers slain by PKK in Gera Cafer village in Mardin Province between 1991 and 2016, continues with Hacı Mehmet Uğurtay’s life who was one of the first people stood against PKK’s intimidation in the village.

Hacı Mehmet Uğurtay, whose the biggest desire was being a martyr during tough struggling years, attained his wish long years later. Uğurtay was martyred by two PKK militants treacherously while he was waiting the students of the village in the school garden on 28 May 2014. Having his 57 years life in the service of Islam and struggling against enemies of Islam, Hacı Mehmet Uğurtay left a tearful wife and 16 orphans behind.

“He was performing his prayers in the mosque”

While talking about his father, Ahmet Uğurtay didn’t want to be viewed by cameras. As he was talking in tears, Ahmet Uğurtay said: “my father was performing his daily prayers in the mosque and he was trying to take us with him all the time. Since he was loved by everyone, he was also elected as headman in the village. He was always trying to solve everyone’s problems and meeting their needs. He worked as headman of our village form 17 years and he also worked in transportation of the villagers in 1989. He was always preferred by tradesmen as he was a very reliable man.”

“He was helping the students study Islamic studies in the village”

Indicating that his father made much of students who were studying Islamic studies, Ahmet Uğurtay said: “he concerned about the students in the village. He tried to supply their needs. He was delighted in teaching and spreading Islamic studies. He always advised the students to serve Islam.”

“PKK never likes the students learn Islamic studies”

“After he was elected as the headman of the village, PKK started to pressure to him.” said Ahmet Uğurtay, adding: “PKK never likes the students having Islamic education. It intended to harm them. My father warned them saying ‘If you harm a hair on their head, I will destroy you even if it costs of my life.’ PKK threatened my father to work on their behalf. He was asked to collect money for PKK and urge the villagers to join PKK ranks. My father refused their words. And one of their disgusting proposals was that they wanted women to come together with them. My father got them off his house after he was asked this. And his fight began against PKK after that. His only goal was protecting those religious villagers from this kind of disgusting proposals.”

 “You either do what we order or we will kill you”

Speaking about the conversations talked between his father and PKK militants who came to the village frequently, Ahmet Uğurtay said:

“One night a crowded pro PKK group from Çalışkan (Heştwan) village came to our village to meet my father. At first my father didn’t want to meet them. As the consequence of the villagers’ insistence my father accepted to meet them. The group told my father that: ‘you have to urge your young people to join PKK camps in the mountains. And you have to subordinate this village to PKK.’ But my father couldn’t accept their offers since he was a faithful believer following the way of Allah and Quran. My father said to them that he couldn’t accept this. Then they wanted women to come to the meeting. My father got mad when they asked this from him, and he said to them ‘if you bring any women to this meeting, blood would spill in this room; either you will kill me or I will kill you.’ Days after another group of pro PKK guys came to the village again and they called my father again. I was twelve at that time. My father went to the meeting with some elderly people from the village because most of the villagers were in Konya province to work. I followed them and sneaked around the house they came together.  Soon afterwards, I heard someone shouting Allah Akbar from the house. I looked in through the window and I saw someone was hitting my father with a rifle butt. My father head was bleeding. Hearing these sounds, martyr Abdurrahman Kaya, who was just married an imam working in Heştwan village, reacted to them and said ‘what do you want from this man? That’s enough.’ One of the militants approached martyr Abdurrahman, and grasped him from his beard and hit his head to the wall. When the outcry increased, they stopped and took their ID cards and wrote their credentials with a red pen and then they said to my father ‘you either do what we order or we will kill you’

PKK tried to abduct Mehmet Uğurtay…

Indicating that after Mullah Abdurrahman martyred, PKK militants came to village to abduct his father, Ahmet Uğurtay said: “during Mullah Abdurrahman’s condolence visiting going on, PKK heard about my father came to village and called him again to a talk. A few men came to my father that he was called; my father said to them that they wanted to kill him so he couldn’t trust them and refused to go with them. But they insisted to come with them and my father accepted to go. According to my father saying, after the discussion broke out in Mullah Abdurrahman’s condolence house, they tried to take my father to the out of the village. While they were going out of the village, a pro PKK group of 10 people came from Heştwan village was strolling in the village. When my uncle Beşir noticed that my father was taken to the out of the village to be executed, he said to this group that ‘look! If something happens to him, none of you can get out of this village alive’. Then, they sent one guy to state the situation to the head of the PKK militant group. When this guy called these militants, my father managed to get rid of their arms and ran away. They opened fire towards him and my father got wounded in his shoulder and hand.”

“His everything was for Allah”

Menice Uğurtay, Mehmet Uğurtay’s first wife said: “his everything was for Allah. His leaving has remained us in an absolute loneness.  But everything was for Allah. They persecuted him and his friends a lot. He was persecuted and killed since only he said the God exists and followed the way of Allah. He always said ‘even if we had a single day lifespan, we wouldn’t leave his cause.’ That’s why apostates killed him; there was no any other reason. They went for broke. And they were Muslims stood against persecution side by side. They sacrificed their lives for this cause. We, too, with our children follow their way.”

“His all friends got martyred nevertheless he chose to resist”

Mrs. Menice, the first wife of Mehmet Uğurtay, said: “even though all his friends got martyred, he chose to resist. He never gave up his strife. Despite all warnings and threats he never sheered his own convictions. His single enemy was PKK. He had no any other enemy. At last PKK martyred him. He was so merciful towards his family. We never witnessed any pressure from him. He tried to raise his children with Islamic moral values. May Allah curse those who took him from us.” (ILKHA)