The call letter by our Vice Co-Chair Mr Hişyar Özsoy regarding Müjgan Ekin's disappearance since 24 October 2016:

Urgent Call for Action: Müjgan Ekin is missing since 24 October 2016

Twenty-nine-year-old Müjgan Ekin, former programmer at Özgür Gün TV and councilor of Sur Municipality, has been missing since 24 October 2016. The testimonies of two taxi drivers and her friends and the information gathered so far by her family and lawyers highlight the need to take urgent action to prevent another possible case of forced disappearance.

According to testimonies and the information gathered, Müjgan Ekin traveled by bus from Diyarbakır to Ankara with a girlfriend on 23-24 October. The two young women arrived at Ankara in the morning of October 24 and went home. Later in the day Mujgan Ekin went to the city center. The taxi she took from the city center was stopped, and plain-clothed persons who identified themselves as policemen forcefully detained her. Ms. Ekin’s family and lawyers have reached a video footage from security cameras showing a man following her in a mall and four vehicles following the taxi she took. One of those cars stopped her taxi and she was forcibly transferred to that car. Two taxi drivers witnessed the incident. Ms. Ekin's family and lawyer applied to the Ankara Police Department. However, the Police Department said there was no such detention file in their records. The family was first referred to the bureau dealing with missing persons, but later the case was transferred to the bureau dealing with crimes against the Constitutional order. The impression of the family and its lawyers is that state officials, including the Ministry of Justice and Police Department, are not properly and seriously investigating Ms. Ekin’s disappearance; rather they are trying to cover up the incident. 

In order for Ms. Mujgan Ekin’s case not to turn into a new case of forced disappearance, we invite the international community, human rights organizations, and international institutions working in the field of forced disappearances to investigate and raise awareness about the issue, urge the Turkish government to investigate the issue seriously and release information about her whereabouts and safety. 


Hişyar Özsoy
Deputy Co-chair of HDP Responsible For Foreign Affairs
Member of Parliament 
16.12.2016