Mehmet Akif Sancar was resting on the night of the coup attempt. Being called to the Special Operations Department urgently, Mehmet didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye to his family. Mehmet would come back from every one of his tasks in the Eastern region of Turkey saying, “I came back before I could be martyred.” He finally reached martyrdom in Ankara on the night of the July 15th coup attempt.
Mehmet became a police officer upon his mother’s request. He completed police school in İzmir and started working in the Special Operations department. His first workplace was in Tunceli and he also worked in Iğdır, Ankara and Şırnak. 45 year old Mehmet had two daughters, ages 8 and 13, and one 15 year old son.
On the night of the coup, Mehmet was resting when he was called in to work. He had been working in Cizre for about 2 months. He rushed to the Gökbaşı Special Operations Department Headquarters after the phone call he received around 10:30 PM. He was martyred in the bomb attack on the headquarters 6 minutes after he talked to his wife at 11:57 PM.
Martyr on the next holiday
Mehmet would always say goodbye to his family before he left for work. Mehmet visited the grave of his 2 martyr friends on the holiday. By their graves, he said, “I will be with you on the next holiday.” Mehmet’s wish for martyrdom came true on July 15th.
The name Martyr Mehmet Akif Sancar was given to an elementary school in Etimesgut, Ankara and an Anatolian imam hatip high school in Dalaman, Muğla.
