AL-FATIHAH...

A brief introduction to the nine Turkish Martyrs killed on 31 May 2010, by Israeli soldiers who attacked the Turkish vessel M.V. Mavi Marmara, as it attempted to transport humanitarian aid to the people of the Gaza Strip.


1. Ibrahim Bilgen, 61, an electrical engineer from Siirt.
Member of the Chamber of Electrical Engineers of Turkey. Married with 6 children.

2. Ali Haydar Bengi, 39, from Diyarbakir. Graduate of Al-Azhar University,
Cairo (Department of Arabic literature). Married with 4 children.

3. Cevdet Kiliçlar, 38, a journalist from Kayseri.
Married with two children.

4. Çetin Topçuoglu, 54, from Adana. Former amateur soccer player and taekwondo champion,
who coached Turkey's national taekwondo team. Married with one son.

5. Necdet Yildirim, 32, from Malatya.
Married with a three-year-old daughter.
(Dogan News Agency)

6. Fahri Yaldiz, 43, a firefighter who worked for the Municipality of Adiyaman.
Married with four children.

7. Cengiz Songür, 47, from Izmir.
Married with seven children.

8. Cengiz Akyüz, 41, from Iskenderun.
Married with children aged 14, 12 and nine.

9. Furkan Dogan, 19, student at Kayseri High School. Son of Dr. Ahmet Dogan, Assoc Prof at Erciyes University. A Turkish-American dual national,
with two siblings.