”Heaven lies beneath the feet of mothers” (Hz. Muhammed, saw-pbuh)

I am a mother from Turkey. It is perceived very blessed to be a mother in my home country. However, There are tearful mothers in Turkey.

In Turkey, 11.000 women with their 2000 children including 758 babies, are being kept behind bars, and many more children left behind without mothers at their homes.

I AM A MOTHER

One night, I was captured all of a sudden by policemen and arrested. I was pregnant at the time and taken to the hospital not along with my husband but with policemen. They put me in jail with my newborn baby. They made me long for the brightness of sun. I was sick, however refused to get medicene that I needed. My children used to come to see me, whenever it comes to send off my kids at the end of visiting hours at the prison, I used to feel that the world would collapse on me.

I am a MOTHER; my husband was arrested, I worked. Sometimes I end up in hunger at the end of day with my kids, sometimes I could manage to feed them. I was crying at times but I never revealed to my kids that I shed a tear. I tried to pose that I am strong. My lovely country turned out to be unbreathable for me. My family, close friends, neighbours and loved ones all believed in something not true but lies of propaganda indeed. I had to flee my homeland. I walked for hours and got tired. I got on plastic boat. I crossed the river Avros. I was drowned in Agean sea or my kids were drowned in the darkness of the night. I myself burried my kids into the cold of soil.

I am a MOTHER;

I am Esma, I have gone through a lot of pain both in my home country and abroad. My heart could not bear that much pain and I lost my life.

I am Hatice, I have lost my daughters on the way home from prison after visiting me, I have lost my sons crossing the river Avros in order to make it to the freedom.

I am Zekiye, I lost my son Ahmet because of cancer, he was longing for his father to be with him in his final days but they did not let his father out of prison to see his son alive for the last time.

I am a MOTHER of those young cadets who were studying at military school at the time of so called coup attemp and sentenced to stay in prison for the rest of their life even though they were just students and nothing to do with coup.

I am MOTHER of Helin, Mustafa and Ibrahim.

I am a MOTHER;

Every Saturdays, I am looking for my son,  my husband who were gone missing years ago never came back.

It was either me or my kids who were killed in Yemen, in Rakhine (Arakan) out of starvation. I am a mother of thousands of children who were detained in East Turkestan by Chineese officials.

And I am MOTHER of thousands of innocent people who were left fragile to the Coronavirus infection and to be perished in prisons of Turkey.

I do see all of these sufferings or hear or live in it. I get sick and die. Because I am a MOTHER.