Grieving Mother Waiting for News of Her Missing Child in Hatay

HATAY (İHA) – Sema Güleç, who has not heard from her 25-year-old son Batuhan Güleç since the disaster of the century in Hatay, is experiencing the bitterness of spending Mother’s Day this year without her son.

Grieving Mother Waiting with Hope

In the earthquakes centered in Kahramanmaraş, 25 thousand people died in Hatay and many citizens could not be reached after the earthquake. Despite more than 16 months passing since the disaster of the century, the hopeful waiting of the citizens for news from their loved ones continues. One of these people is Sema Güleç, who lives in the İskenderun district of Hatay.

The grieving mother, a graduate of the architecture department, has not heard from her 25-year-old son Mustafa Batuhan for months. Mustafa Batuhan, who was caught in the earthquake in the Güleryüz Apartment in Numune Neighborhood of İskenderun, literally disappeared after the disaster of the century. The grieving mother Sema Güleç has been eagerly waiting for news from her son for months.

“We went out of the house during the earthquake, my son was the first thing that came to my mind anyway”

Sema Güleç, 53, who stated that she went to the building where her son lived 20 minutes after the earthquake, said that she did not want to remove her son Batuhan from the population registry, “After the February 6 earthquake, I could not reach my son Mustafa Batuhan Güleç in any way, I am looking for my son. On the day of the earthquake, my son was staying in the other house on top of his workplace, he was alone. I was here, he was in the other house. We went out of the house during the earthquake, my son was the first thing that came to my mind anyway. I said let’s go to Batuhan, I went there with my daughter and son-in-law, and we saw that the building had collapsed. I was there 20 minutes after the building collapsed. After the earthquake, I was very worried, I did research, nothing came out, meaning the removal from the population registry did not happen. But in some cases, this becomes a matter of inheritance, due to some procedures, they are removed from the population registry mutually against the will. When I learned that, I felt a little relieved. I am still looking for my child. I do not want my son to be removed from the population registry or declared missing. I am still searching, if he has passed away, they should give me his grave. Otherwise, I do not accept removing from the population registry, declaring missing, I never accept that,” she said.

“If Batuhan were here, he would come, kiss, and give his gift”

Expressing that she feels a sense of melancholy as Mother’s Day approaches, Sema Güleç said, “As Mother’s Day approaches, I feel a sense of melancholy. I have other children but none of them can replace one another. If each of them were Batuhan, he would come, kiss, and give his gift. We would spend time together, I really do not want Mother’s Day to come. I do not want Mother’s Day to come anymore because my son is not with me. It is a very difficult situation for me not having my son,” she said.