A man from Afyonkarahisar was declared a martyr after 36 years! As soon as his mother received the flag, she covered herself with it.

Jandarma Private Osman Savsar, registered in the population of Afyonkarahisar, fell ill in the Çaldıran district of Van where he served his military duty in 1988. His commander, to whom he reported his condition, also informed his superiors and requested that Savsar be taken to the provincial infirmary. The request was accepted, but due to the snow-covered roads, Osman Savsar was transported on sleds to the cleared area. Later, Savsar was put in a vehicle and taken to the provincial infirmary, where he passed away.

THEY APPLIED BUT RECEIVED A REJECTION RESPONSE

The family of Jandarma Private Osman Savsar, who lived in Afyonkarahisar, applied for martyrdom several times at that time, but received rejection responses. Last year in January, when İsmail Kumartaşlı, the President of the Turkey Disabled Veterans, Martyrs, Widows and Orphans Association Afyonkarahisar Branch, learned about the situation, he started the procedures again. After the initiatives, it was decided that Jandarma Private Osman Savsar would be recognized as a martyr. When it was notified by the General Directorate of Retirement Fund that Osman Savsar's records were transferred to the martyr records, İsmail Kumartaşlı also went to their house to inform the martyr's mother Melahat Savsar, his brother Basri Savsar, and his sister Serpil Karakaya.

"OUR STATE HAS RECOGNIZED OUR SON AS A MARTYR AFTER 36 YEARS"

İsmail Kumartaşlı, who told the mother Melahat Savsar that her son was recognized as a martyr, said, "We used to talk with Basri brother about what we could do. We made the necessary applications on your behalf while he was in the military service. Our state has recognized your son as a martyr today, 36 years later. We have come to give you the news. Here is the letter accepted by the Retirement Fund. As of today, your son Osman Savsar will be recorded in both the state records and the martyr records. In the following process, we will go to his grave in the Susuz town. We will apply to the Governorship. Our Governor sends his greetings. We will hang our flag at the head of his grave. After 36 years, although it is late, I have come to deliver our glorious Turkish flag to you on behalf of our state, my mother," he said.

HE TOOK THE FLAG AND COVERED HIMSELF WITH IT

İsmail Kumartaşlı, who delivered two Turkish flags to the mother Melahat Savsar on behalf of both the state and the association, also pinned a badge on her. As soon as the mother Savsar received the flag, she covered herself with it. Melahat Savsar, who could barely speak, prayed for everyone who supported her son being recognized as a martyr.

"IT HURT US THAT THE FLAG WAS NOT HUNG"

Basri Savsar, the brother of the martyr, said, "They gave us the world. Our goal is martyrdom, to be able to take this flag. To be able to hang this flag in front of our door, now flags are hung in front of the houses of all the martyrs, but it was our duty, we couldn't hang it; we couldn't even hang it on his grave. Now we have received martyrdom, our goal is to hang this flag in front of our door, to make our martyr's grave, to hang the flag on his grave. It has been 36-37 years, we haven't asked for anything until now, but it hurt us that the flag was not hung. We only reunited with him. We thank the ones who caused this, our state, our nation," he said.

"HE WAS TRANSPORTED ON SLEDS DUE TO HEAVY SNOWFALL, BUT..."

İsmail Kumartaşlı, the President of the Turkey Disabled Veterans, Martyrs, Widows and Orphans Association, explained how Jandarma Private Osman Savsar became a martyr as follows: "Jandarma Private Osman Savsar, registered in the Susuz town of Afyonkarahisar, informed his unit commander about his illness while serving in Çaldıran, Van in 1988. The unit commander informed the higher command about his illness for his treatment and transfer to a higher command, which is the provincial center hospital. However, due to heavy snowfall between Çaldıran and the higher command infirmary, the roads were closed, and they transported him on sleds for a certain period of time, in a sick condition, within the possibilities of that day. Afterwards, when they reached the open part of the road, they realized that our soldier had passed away while they were putting him in the vehicle. From 1988 until today, for 36 years, our family had made previous attempts but received rejection responses. After we met with our family, we obtained the necessary documents again and made our applications to the relevant authorities, and today it was notified to us by the General Directorate of the Retirement Fund of the Republic of Turkey that the late Jandarma Private Osman Savsar was recognized as a duty-disabled person, in other words, as a martyr. We have come today to inform our mother of this sad but joyful news. We were moved and delivered our flag on behalf of our state. We informed her that he was recognized as a martyr starting from today. We pray for all our martyrs to rest in peace."