This book is a gift from Mustafa Koçak, who wrote his own history in his own handwriting, to the people of the world and Anatolia.
Mustafa Koçak was one of the four children of a poor family at the age of 28.
Since childhood, he worked in his father’s grocery store in various neighbourhoods and districts of Istanbul. As a young man who was never indifferent to what was happening in the world and in his country, he participated in various democratic demonstrations during the June Uprising.
As a result of the slanders of a treacherous informant, he was detained on September 23, 2017, at the age of 26, while walking on the street in Istanbul’s Mecidiyeköy district. He was taken to the Istanbul Vatan Police Headquarters, where he was presented with a pre-prepared file. Mustafa was offered collaboration—he was asked to sign pre-written statements accusing revolutionaries he did not know and incidents he had never been involved in.
The enemies of the people said, “If you help us, we will help you. You’ll live comfortably. Everything is ready.” When they didn’t get the response they wanted, they threatened him: “The road you walked on in Mecidiyeköy will be the last road you ever walk. You will never see the sky again.”
Mustafa refused. After three days in custody, they made the same offer again. When he refused once more, the torture began.
The enemies of the people started with kicks, punches, and insults. Then they tried to force him into collaboration by threatening to rape his pregnant sister and his other sisters. By rejecting dishonour, Mustafa took his first step onto the white pages of history.
On the fourth day, the threats continued with an additional statement from the traitor Berk Ercan. For a total of 12 days, they subjected him to physical and psychological torture—placing a metal can over his head and hitting it, soaking him with water, pouring an unknown liquid on him, exposing him to cold air, and beating him severely.
When Mustafa insisted that he would not testify, he was arrested after 12 days. He remained true to his mother’s advice, who had told him, “My son, they have brought fire upon our home, but don’t burn anyone else’s soul, don’t slander anyone.”
In a trial where the only evidence against him was the lies of the traitor Berk Ercan, Mustafa was accused of providing the weapon used in the hostage action involving prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz, led by Şafak Yayla and Bahtiyar Doğruyol. Despite the lack of any solid evidence, he was sentenced to two life sentences without parole and 42 years in prison by the 27th High Criminal Court, acting under the orders of AKP fascism.
During the trial, his right to defence was taken away, and 110 lawyers were restricted from accessing his case. This restriction decision was an unprecedented legal injustice in Turkish history. Yet, they still could not break Koçak Mustafa. He did not betray his people, his comrades, his culture, or his traditions.
Mustafa Koçak became the symbol of the struggle for justice in Turkey and around the world. Amidst all the injustice, he was determined to continue his fight for justice. Before his final court session, he began an Indefinite Hunger Strike demanding a fair trial, later turning it into a Death Fast in resistance.
1 Prosecutor Mehmet Selim Kiraz was taken hostage on March 31, 2015, at the Çağlayan Courthouse in Istanbul, by two Revolutionary People’s Liberation Party/Front (DHKP/C) guerrillas, Şafak Yayla and Bahtiyar Doğruyol. Their demands were the public identification of police officers involved in the death of Berkin Elvan (a teenager who died after being hit by a tear gas canister during the 2013 Gezi Uprising) be publicly identified and their public confession on live TV.
Mustafa conveyed his thoughts and emotions to the world with these words:
“The things we sacrifice today out of fear of losing something might become our most agonizing regrets in the future. No person who calls themselves human wants to die with their head down, unable to defend their honour and their truth.”
On the 254th day of his hunger strike, when his body had shrunk to 30 kilograms, they attempted forced medical intervention, puncturing his veins 73 times to administer IV fluids. Despite threats of permanent disability, the 16 handcuffs placed on his arms and legs, and being tied down with ropes, Mustafa continued his resistance.
On the 296th day (April 23, 2020), Mustafa Koçak became immortal—he became the Koçak Mustafa of all the people of the world. He carried the flag of justice with his life and explained the legitimacy, naturalness, and necessity of resistance in the following words:
“Everything is so hopeless in the conditions we are born and raised in. Those who embrace righteousness, those who respond to the vitality of life, and those who do what is necessary on this path will always maintain their joy.
Happiness is a matter of awareness; those who understand the reasons and consequences of their actions, those who know why they are doing something, will always be happy.
So much so that they find happiness even in struggle, even in paying the price. Because they know the results of their actions.
The same way the people of Vietnam, despite being attacked with the force of 45 atomic bombs by American imperialism, still found happiness. This is why revolutionaries throughout history went to their deaths laughing.
Right now, we can clearly see and feel how significant the resistance we are creating is. All over the world, people are taking to the streets to resist, and our people are boiling with rage.
Those who can no longer govern try to overcome their crisis by dragging our people into despair with repression, violence, hunger, and poverty.
They want our people to be powerless, unable to protest, and left alone with their fate in despair.
But we, despite all the injustice and lawlessness, carry hope to our people with our resistance. We show them that ‘Everyone can resist. A person can risk their life for their rights.’”
WE HAVE THIRSTED FOR JUSTICE SO MUCH THAT
WE WILL QUENCH THE THIRST OF ALL HEARTS YEARNING FOR JUSTICE
WITH OUR VICTORIES.
WITH OUR RESISTANCE, WE CAN ALREADY SEE THE HOPE BLOSSOMING IN
THE HEARTS OF THE PEOPLE.
AND WE WILL SURELY WIN!
GLORY TO THOSE WHO EMBRACE HOPE AND SET OUT ON THIS PATH…
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