During military rule immediately after the coup, at least 100 people went missing after being detained, current records reveal. Hayrettin Eren, who was detained one month after the coup for being a leftist militant, is among those missing people. His family applied to authorities several times in attempts to find his body, yet according to state records he is still alive. Elmas Eren, Hayrettin Eren's mother, told reporters that a voter information card in her son's name was sent before the March 29 elections.
Elmas Eren was first informed of her son's detention on Nov. 21, 1980. When she headed to Karagümrük Police Station, where her son was reported to be detained, police officers said her son had been sent to the Gayrettepe Political Crimes Branch. However, she was told that her son was not being kept there, and she has not seen her son since. According to eyewitnesses who were detained with Hayrettin Eren, he disappeared after being tortured for eight days at Kargümrük Police Station after he had refused to testify.
Elmas Eren has been working for years to find even the body of her son. She is among a number of people who have applied to the Human Rights Association (İHD) demanding excavation of several areas of İstanbul in an attempt to find their missing and allegedly dead relatives. Authorities will search for his body at the Kulaksız graveyard, where the family claims his body was most likely buried.
Hayrettin Eren's brother, Faruk Eren, also said he wanted at least to find his brother's grave. “To have a relative missing for 29 years is worse than his death. I still look at the faces of people on the street, hoping to find my brother. You cannot even mourn,” said Faruk Eren.
