Death of Eren Bülbül

Eren Bülbül
Young Eren Bülbül
Born(2002-01-01)1 January 2002
Maçka, Trabzon, Turkey
Died11 August 2017(2017-08-11) (aged 15)
Maçka, Trabzon, Turkey
Cause of deathGunshot wound
Resting placeMaçka, Trabzon[1]

Eren Bülbül (1 January 2002 – 11 August 2017) was a Turkish 15-year-old boy from Maçka, Trabzon who was killed during the clashes between the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and the Turkish security forces in part of a Turkish military patrol during the Turkish-PKK conflict.

Life

The son of Ayşe and Hasan Bülbül, Bülbül was one of 12 children. He spent his entire life in Maçka, Trabzon, as he went to local Çatak Primary School and later Maçka Anatolian Religious High School. His father died in 2016. He worked in his family's farm and liked sports, being a fan of Trabzonspor.[2]

Death

On 11 August 2017, a group of PKK militants entered a house to obtain supplies after clashes with police. Bülbül saw them and informed the gendarmerie. He accompanied the police, showing them the house which the militants had entered. As a result of an attack by the PKK, both Bülbül and Gendarmerie Sergeant Major Ferhat Gedik were killed.[3][4] After his death, 41 bullets were taken out from Gedik's body.[5]

Reactions

Later, Eren's mother Ayşe Bülbül said that his death had become the sorrow of the whole country.[6] Additionally, his mother criticised the Turkish security forces who had taken her son with them to show where the PKK militants were hiding,[7] saying: "My son would've liked to be a martyr but a martyr in the military, not in front of his door."[8][9] The party leader of the Republican Peoples' Party (CHP) Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu as well as Serpil Kemalbay of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) condemned the death of Bülbül.[7]

Legacy

Martyr Eren Bülbül railbus station, Sivas, Turkey

On 25 June 2019, Turkish Airlines launched a survey on Twitter to name the new Boeing 787 aircraft.[10] Among the options suggested in the survey were ancient city names such as Perga, Assos, Göbekli Tepe, and Zeugma, but Eren Bülbül's name was not included in the list. When many Twitter users initiated a campaign to put the name Eren Bülbül on the plane, Turkish Airlines responded by naming the plane after Bülbül's hometown Maçka.[11] In August 2021 Turkish manufacturer of special purpose and military vehicles, Katmerciler, presented a new tactical vehicle, Katmerciler Eren, named after Eren Bülbül.[12][13]

References

  1. ^ "Trabzon'da şehit olan Eren Bülbül toprağa verildi" (in Turkish). 12 August 2017. Archived from the original on 17 August 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Eren Bülbül ölümü nasıl oldu, kaç yaşındaydı? Eren Bülbül kimdir, nerelidir?". Milliyet (in Turkish). 11 August 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Trabzon'da şehit düşen Eren Bülbül yürekleri dağladı. Eren Bülbül kimdir?". Mynet (in Turkish). 14 August 2017. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
  4. ^ "Eren Bülbül ölümünün 3. yılında anılıyor! Eren Bülbül kimdir, ne zaman öldü? İşte Eren Bülbül'ün hayatı". A Haber (in Turkish). 11 August 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Eren Bülbül'ün üzerine kapanan Astsubay'ın vücudundan 41 kurşun çıkmış, şehit Eren'in bu paylaşımı Türkiye'yi ağlatmıştı". Yeniçağ (in Turkish). 11 August 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  6. ^ "Şehit Eren Bülbül'ün annesi: Şehit yavrum tüm Türkiye'nin acısı oldu". Anadolu Agency (in Turkish). 10 August 2020. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  7. ^ a b "A sergeant and a teenager get killed in Turkey in a clash between security and PKK". Birgün (in Turkish). Archived from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 19 December 2021.
  8. ^ "Eren Bülbül'ün annesi: Oğlumun oraya götürülmesi büyük ihmal". Evrensel (in Turkish). 14 August 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  9. ^ "Annesi Ayşe Bülbül isyan etti: Eren ne tepki aldı da gitti oraya..." Hürriyet (in Turkish). 14 August 2017. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
  10. ^ "THY 'Rüya uçak' için isim anketi başlattı" (in Turkish). TRT Haber. Retrieved 25 June 2019.
  11. ^ "THY Maçka açıklaması" (in Turkish). Turkish Airlines official Twitter page. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Katmerciler to Unveil EREN and HIZIR II | TurDef".
  13. ^ "OtonomHaber - Driverless Automotive News".