Yunus Emre Sezer went to the Municipality Building in Saraçhane to resist the traitorous coup attempt of July 15th. He was shot in the heart and martyred by putschists.
Ezer immediately acted upon the call of President Erdoğan. Ezer did his ablutions and prayed two rakats before leaving the house. Ezer read Surat Al Ma’un and said, “There was never a moment I didn’t receive God’s help when I read this surah.”
“If they succeed tonight, they will dominate us for 100 years”
Ezer was on his way from Güngören to the Police Headquarters on Vatan Avenue with his brother at 12:15 AM. However, as soon as he saw that things were under control there, he headed to the Municipality Building in Saraçhane. He talked to his wife, Fatma Ezer, for the last time 15 minutes before he was martyred. When his wife called him for the last time, the phone answered automatically. Ezer did not hear his wife but his wife heard him and his brother talking in the middle of the events. Ezer told his brother, “Move, Faruk, move! If they succeed tonight, they will dominate us for 100 years.” He was martyred on the spot by a bullet to the heart.
The 38 year old was a father of one. He was buried in the Edirnekapı Martyrs’ Graveyard after the funeral that was held in the Fatih Mosque.
He wrote about his martyrdom years ago
This poem Yunus Emre Ezer wrote in 1996, almost completely accurately predicts his own martyrdom and is remembered by his family at every opportunity.
Ezer’s martyrdom poem:
Goodbye
I woke up screaming,
To escape the nightmare attacking me from all sides
I saw myself, my essence collapsing
I fell on the cold concrete like a plane tree
They shot me right in the heart
Like water flowing through a river
They stopped my blood flowing through my veins
They meant to drain the fountain of my blood
There would be another red on my flag this way
My blood leaking down from the pavement
Wrote the name of my cause in a language spoken by angels
I was shaken by the sounds of treacherous weapons
I woke up with the cries of my co-religionists, cognates and brothers
Who washed their groaning bodies in the fountain of faith
My mattress was not as comfortable, it prickled my bones
I took my honor I hid under my sack of a pillow
I put it on my back
Honor was my brother
Honor was my everything
I carved oneness and a crescent on its grip
It was my honor, my pride, my land, my flag
My ambitions made a nest in my eyes
Dawn was greeting the grand minarets of Süleymaniye
I was at the bottom
I ran into the streets running from century old musty doors
I felt myself closer to Allah at every corner
There was a rebellion against the truth
Those unlawful dogs who kissed believers with their weapons did not know
That every drop of blood spilled by these warriors was watering these fields
Death became sneakier at every corner I turned
My eyes started seeing the sea
Just as I came to the postal street
A car stopped in front of me
Three angry faces
The sound of ‘stop’ exploded in my ears like ammo
I heard it in my soul
I was worried, I desired martyrdom
But after I eliminated infidels
Soldiers of my ambitions started walking on my veins
I was running
Now
There was no time here
There was no love here
There was only a line here, life and death
I felt it inside, it was the good news of the nightmare
People in uniforms with stars were chasing me
It was up to the command of God and one bullet, my destiny,
Then Azrael came
The blood in my eyes stopped flowing
My fight on earth ended
The sound of bullets
Made me sleep like a lullaby
Goodbye, mother
Goodbye, flag
Goodbye, the mountains of Islam
Great God is calling me.
-10.9.1994, 10.40 AM
Understanding
I think my sanctuary, my body
I know, my country, my shroud
I’m going forever, I’m asking, who owns forever?
I wink at death
-1995-
The name of martyr Emre Ezer was given to an elementary school in Fatih, Istanbul where he was martyred and an Anatolian Imam Hatip high school in Basişkele, Kocaeli.
