Cengiz Polat was martyred on the night of July 15th by putschists in front of the General Staff Building, where he went, before saying to his mother who was trying to stop him from going, “If none of us go out, then who will defend this country?”
Waking up with the horn sounds outside as the coup attempt news were being broadcasted on TV, Cengiz found out about what had been going on from his mother. Forty-two-years-old and father of an 18-year-old, he performed ablution and prepared to go out, upon hearing President Erdoğan’s call.
Initially going to Keçiören Municipality, he later went to the General Staff building with other patriots via buses arranged by the municipality.
Calling her brother repeatedly until 02:00, Filiz Ocak said, “The phone was answered, but I couldn’t hear Cengiz. All I could hear was bullets and screams of people. Then the phone went off. I called again 20 minutes later and a stranger picked up saying, ‘You have a casualty, come immediately to High Specialization Hospital!’ My mother and I searched for my brother all night long and we eventually heard that he became a martyr.”
Martyr Cengiz Polat was buried in the Karşıyaka Cemetery.
The name Martyr Cengiz Polat was given to an imam hatip middle school located in Yenimahalle, Ankara.
