Serhat Önder, who is the Küçükesat branch manager of the Turkish Red Crescent, went to the General Staff Headquarters with his wife and children, saying, “We will do anything to stop the coup attempt.” 41 year old Önder lost his life from the shots fired at civilians in the first hours of the coup attempt in front of the General Staff headquarters building.
He was one of the founders of the Union of European Turkish Democrats, and was born and raised in Germany. He moved to Ankara after deciding to settle in Turkey. He was able to sit with his mother who came to visit him from her village for only 1 hour on the night of July 15th. He heard about the coup attempt during his mother’s visit and went into the streets with his wife and children. He gave his car to his wife by the Ankara Opera Bridge and said to her, “You go back home, I’ll come later.” As he was sending his family back, he told his son who was afraid of low flying jets, not to fear. That was the last time he saw his family.
Önder was the target of a bomb attack on the General Staff Headquarters. He was martyred after shrapnel pieces impaled his body. His family searched police stations to find him. The family eventually found his body at the Numune Hospital.
“I’m sad but I’m also proud”
Hilal Önder, 16 year old daughter of the Martyr, said the following regarding her father’s martyrdom, “I’m sorry but not everybody gets to be a martyr. I’m proud.” Hilal said they went to the General Staff headquarters with her father and added, “Everything happened so suddenly. My father’s phone was about to die. He told us to wait there and left. We dropped on the ground when the bomb exploded. My mother started running holding me and my sister. We barely survived the bullets. Then we tried to reach my father. There were cars passing by us. There were people saying, ‘people are shot.’ I felt that something happened to my father at that moment. We waited in the car with a glimpse of hope thinking anybody passing by was my father. But my father was martyred there.”
Serhat, father of 2, was buried in his hometown of Çankırı on July 17th. The name Martyr Serhat Önder was given to an imam hatip middle school in his hometown of Şabanözü, Çankırı.
