Background
Vedat Aydın was born in 1953 in Bismil, Diyarbakır. In 1990 he was elected head of the Diyarbakır branch of the Human Rights Association (İHD). On 28 October 1990 he was detained after speaking in Kurdish at the İHD general assembly; he was tried and acquitted. In June 1991 he was elected Diyarbakır provincial chairman of the People’s Labour Party (HEP).
What happened
On 5 July 1991, men who identified themselves as police took Aydın from his home, saying his statement was needed. His family and lawyers searched for him, but the authorities did not acknowledge that he had been detained.
His body was found on 7 July 1991 under a bridge near Maden in Elazığ province. Many sources attribute the killing to the gendarmerie intelligence unit JİTEM; these claims have not led to a conviction.
His funeral was held in Diyarbakır on 10 July 1991. Crowds reported to number in the tens of thousands, even up to a hundred thousand, attended, and shots were fired at the gathering. The official toll was three dead, while a police official later cited a far higher figure; sources disagree.
Investigation and legacy
No perpetrator was tried and convicted. In 2021, thirty years after the killing, the case faced the statute of limitations.
Aydın is buried in Mardin Kapı Cemetery in Diyarbakır and is commemorated every July.