Remembering Our Iğdır Mayor, Mr. Yaşar Akkuş
This essay remembers Yaşar Akkuş, the democratically elected Mayor of Iğdır, who was unjustly imprisoned and has faced severe health challenges while incarcerated.
Dear Readers:
There comes a time when one writes, "Silence is betrayal." There comes a time when one writes, "Forgetting is betrayal."
Forgetting Iğdır Mayor Yaşar Akkuş is a betrayal. Especially in a period like this, with local elections approaching, it is the duty of every resident of Iğdır to remember Mayor Yaşar Akkuş, who was unjustly imprisoned, and to recall him with affection.
Yaşar Akkuş was elected Mayor of Iğdır on March 31, 2019, with 50.1% of the votes in the local elections. Dark circles and racist lobbies, unable to tolerate a Kurd becoming Mayor, sprang into action. False secret witnesses were brought in. An investigation was launched against him. On May 15, 2020, he was detained. He was arrested and placed in Erzurum Prison.
Mayor Yaşar Akkuş is currently still imprisoned in Erzurum Prison.
Today (December 12), I received a letter from my brother, Mayor Yaşar Akkuş. The lines were steeped in pain and suffering. As I read the letter, an indescribable feeling of rebellion arose within me.
I wanted to share some lines from Mayor Yaşar Akkuş's letter with you:
"...since there was no other remedy besides heart surgery, I underwent the operation. However, the surgery did not go as desired. One day after the operation, internal bleeding occurred. I was urgently taken for a second surgery. Fifteen days passed. This time, I had a third surgery because my lungs collected fluid. Just as I was hoping for full recovery, I had a second heart surgery due to fluid accumulation around the heart. I went through a difficult and painful process."
I extend my best wishes to Mayor Yaşar Akkuş for his recovery. My greatest hope is for him to regain his freedom and return to his family and his people. With respect, Mücahit Özden Hun
Who is Yaşar Akkuş?
Yaşar Akkuş was born in 1981 in the village of Yüzbaşılar, part of Iğdır Central District. He graduated from Niğde University with a degree in Local Administrations. He settled in Iğdır. As a successful businessman, he engaged in import, export, car dealerships, car rentals, agriculture, and animal husbandry. He developed an interest in politics. Until 2005, he served as Secretary and President of the HADEP-DEHAP Youth Branches. He actively participated in neighborhood and village commissions and in the party's election campaigns. Yaşar Akkuş was elected Mayor of Iğdır in the local elections on March 31, 2019.
Mayor Yaşar Akkuş, inspecting work
