The 65-year-old Yusuf Çelik, who has three children and came to Turkey from Germany for the holiday festivities, left home after performing ablutions upon the call of the President on the night of July 15. Arriving at Kızılay Square, Çelik discovered that he had left his wallet and cellphone, which he always carried with him, at home. Yusuf Çelik, who fought bravely on top of the tank against the putchists, was taken to the hospital after he was wounded. However, he was lost in spite of all the effort.
The Martyr’s wife Ayşe Çelik, who waited for her husband who she couldn’t reach until the morning, searched police departments and hospitals in a last resort .Ayşe Çelik, who said that there were bullet marks in his body and battery marks on his head when they found the body, also said that it wasn’t easy to find his body, as he didn’t have his ID with him.
“I am proud to be the son of such a father”
The martyr’s son Bülent Çelik, who said that they saw the last footage of his father on air in the “July 15 Anthem” after the Yenikapı Democracy and Martyrs' Meeting which was ongoing, stated as following: “We were watching the meeting at Yenikapı on TV. Then, the July 15 Anthem was put on air.While watching the clip, all of a sudden my wife said ‘That’s him.’ I found the clip on the internet at once. The person my wife was pointing, really was my father. Following that, we searched for the longer and original version of the clip and found it. My father could be seen on the tank. He was trying to take a putschist soldier out of the tank. I burst into tears while watching the clip. My father fell a martyr for his cause. I am proud to be the son of such a father.”
Martyr Yusuf Çelik’s name was given to a kindergarden in Aksaray.
