While Torturing Dr. Barış Kaya,
Who Advocates for Free Healthcare for the People,
They Turned the Music Volume Up to the Maximum and
Threatened Him with Death, Saying:
“WE WILL PUT YOU IN A YELLOW BODY BAG TOO…”
Dr. Barış Kaya, a general surgery assistant at Haseki Training and Research Hospital, was suspended from his duty for two months by the Istanbul Provincial Health Directorate on September 6, 2024.
Despite the expiration of this period, he was not reinstated. To protest this and demand his job back, on December 5, 2024, Dr. Barış Kaya was distributing leaflets and collecting signatures in front of Haseki Training and Research Hospital’s Sultangazi campus when he was detained along with his colleagues Seda Kaya and Şimal Deniz by the torturer police officers of the Sultangazi Political Branch.
During the arrest, they were brutally dragged on the ground, subjected to obscene insults and harassment, and endured inhumane torture.
Torture escalated at the Sultangazi Political Branch!
- The police officers forced a humiliating strip search!
- They handcuffed them behind their backs and forced them to lie on the cold concrete floor!
- As if the torture wasn’t enough, they had officers sit on them for hours while they remained on the ground!
- They hurled vile insults, consistent with their character!
“WE WILL PUT YOU IN A YELLOW BODY BAG TOO!”
Former Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu had previously threatened guerrillas, saying, “Surrender, or the yellow body bag is inevitable.”
Now, his disciples, the police officers at Sultangazi Political Branch, unable to break Dr. Barış Kaya despite all the torture, threatened him by saying, “We will put you in a yellow body bag too!”
But they couldn’t break the people’s doctors and healthcare workers through torture, detentions, or arrests, and they won’t succeed with their “yellow body bags” either!
One day, those body bags will be turned against them!
TORTURE AGAINST PUBLIC HEALTH WORKERS
BROUGHT TO PARLIAMENT:
DEM Party MP Ömer Faruk Gergerlioğlu, speaking from the parliamentary podium, shared the testimony of a torture victim’s father—Halkın Sağlıkçısı (People’s Healthcare Worker) Seda Kaya’s father—along with torture reports.
He exposed the police officers at Sultangazi Police Station who threatened Dr. Barış Kaya with death, saying, “We will put you in a yellow body bag!”
He described them as:
Height: 1.80 meters
Weight: 90 kg
Nickname: “MAMI“
“TURKEY IS NO LONGER A STATE OF LAW!”
MP Gergerlioğlu stated: “Why are police brutality and gendarmerie mistreatment so widespread and brazen? Because we have ceased to be a state of law. We have even moved beyond a police state—we have become something else entirely. Anyone can do anything they want, and then they cover it up. You enter a police station, and you face insults, beatings, and torture. Then the prosecutor dismisses the case. Look at this situation—there is no legal security left for citizens.”
This revelation in Parliament proves the reality of systematic torture and impunity for perpetrators!
Doctor Barış Kaya and Seda Kaya, who were suspended from their duties, distributed leaflets in front of Haseki Training and Research Hospital. They distributed leaflets protesting against injustices.
Approximately 10 police officers, claiming to be from the Sultangazi TEM (Anti-Terror) Branch, arrived and acted aggressively. They demanded identification. Without even allowing them to take out their IDs, they were beaten and detained.
One of the police officers, called “Mami” (approximately 1.80 meters tall, around 90 kg, with black hair and wearing a white sweatshirt), approached Seda Kaya, asking for her ID. Despite taking her ID, he continued to drag her away, and she was taken to the hospital. It was noticed that Seda Kaya had a deep scratch on her face. This was also captured by the security cameras.
FROM THE POLICE STATION TO THE HOSPITAL, TORTURE IS EVERYWHERE
“So far, no one has investigated what happened. Since their handcuffs were not removed, they refused to receive medical examination. They were punched and taken back to the vehicle with handcuffs still on. In the vehicle, two female police officers tortured them by trying to bind them until they could barely breathe.”
“One of the female officers had blue eyes, was 1.60 meters tall, in her 30s, with blonde hair, wearing black pants and a white sweater. The other was around 25 years old, dark-skinned, with curly hair, and her eyes were misaligned, a riot police officer. These two officers stayed on top of my daughter for minutes, suffocating her,” says her father. “The suffocating torture my daughter endured was done even more severely to Dr. Barış Kaya”.
They were then taken to the Sultangazi Security Bureau. There, they were taken to the third floor, and it was said, “This is the third floor, you don’t leave from here.” Apparently, bad treatments are taking place there. “Selim, you came to the third floor too, we’ll take care of you here,” they said.
“There, under the pretext of a search, the blue-eyed officer touched my daughter’s chest and groin inappropriately, harassing her. It was not a search, but harassment, and then she laughed. Later, they were taken to the hallway and forced to lie on their stomachs. The passing officers stepped on and kicked them. One of them sat on top of my daughter with full weight, kicking her legs. During the ongoing torture, they sat on top of her for an hour and a half. Both of them went through this treatment. Seda Kaya and Barış Kaya had their heads turned towards the wall and were pressed face down. During this time, they were continuously insulted and cursed. Then, the volume of the music was turned up to the maximum, and they were threatened by saying, “We will put you in the yellow bag too.”
IMMORAL, DISHONOURABLE, TORTURER MAMİ
The large police officer referred to as “Mami” made sexually explicit insults and verbally harassed them. Police officer Hakan, who is 1.85 meters tall, physically tortured them. The officer wearing a sweatshirt burst Dr. Barış Kaya’s eardrum.
“Look, this is happening in a police station. Earlier, I mentioned Ahmet Güreşçi, who died from torture in a police station. The same thing is happening two years later in the same place.
Look at Turkey, look at its current state.
TORTURER MURDERER HAKAN: HE BURST DR. BARIŞ KAYA’S EARDRUM
Look at this; they are beating the man until his eardrum is burst. They sit on people until they can’t breathe. Those who tried to cover up the situation for Ahmet Güreşçi are doing the same thing to someone else.
When will this country ever improve, friends? When will the 85 million people in this country be treated like human beings? You’d better hope not to fall into the hands of the police. You never know what you’ll experience. Just look at this situation.
We continue:
Disgusting insults…
“Come back again, and you’ll see,” they threaten.
“They are all on the camera of Çağlayan Courthouse,” they say.
“They found a fracture in the little finger of my left hand,” they say.
Look, there are bruises all over their bodies, and then there’s a fracture in the little finger of the left hand, and a CT scan is done. A complaint has been filed regarding the torture. They gave their statement, and later, they said, “We’ll invite you again.”
Maybe they’ll invite them after two years. I’m fixated on this two-year issue. I mean, friends, don’t take this the wrong way, but the man dies, and two years later, a lawsuit is filed. This is the state of the country: “You go, we’ll call you.” Two years later, we’ll call you.
The state of the country…
What will happen at the end of this?
After two years, they will probably dismiss it. There will be nothing. It will be covered up.
Yes, they were released with judicial control and a travel ban. They can be re-arrested for violating the handcuffs. We’ve just described to you a long period of torture.”
Dr. Barış Kaya and his friends said:
“We only wanted to defend our rights and return to our jobs, but the treatment we faced was completely illegal. Torture is an unacceptable crime. We demand justice and that those responsible for these unlawful actions be held accountable and punished accordingly. We will continue our struggle and make our voices heard everywhere.”
(This article was translated from the Halk Okulu (People’s School) magazine, dated 9 March 2025, issue 278, pages 4-6)
