Six years after her heinous killing by the PKK terror group, Türkiye on Friday remembered Music teacher Şenay Aybüke Yalçın on the anniversary of her death.
Yalçın, 22, succumbed to her wounds after a brazen attack targeting the car of the Kozluk region mayor in the southeastern Batman province on June 9, 2017. She was traveling in a minibus that was part of the convoy.
The perpetrator of the attack was neutralized in March 2018 by Turkish security forces.
In its more than 35-year terror campaign against Türkiye, the PKK-listed as a terrorist organization by Türkiye, the U.S., and EU-has been responsible for the deaths of more than 40,000 people, including women, children and infants.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan remembered Yalçın.
"I remember with mercy our teacher Şenay Aybüke Yalçın, who had no purpose other than serving our nation, on the anniversary when she was martyred heinously," Erdoğan said on Twitter.
He affirmed Türkiye's determination to fight against the PKK terror group, "which separated our beloved Aybüke from her family, loved ones, and students."
Vice President Cevdet Yılmaz, Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya and Communications Directorate head Fahrettin Altun shared messages to honor Yalçın.
The memory of Yalçın lives on through various initiatives such as schools, libraries, art workshops, parks, and streets named after her, along with commemorative events.
The name of the young teacher was given to the high school, which she graduated from, the street where the terror attack took place, and the orchestra hall of Necmettin Erbakan University in Konya, central Türkiye, where she graduated.
Additionally, Batman University dedicated a class in her name, where she had begun her master's degree. Last year, a public library was opened by Keçiören Municipality in the capital Ankara bearing her name.
Furthermore, a table tennis tournament was held in 2017 and a Turkish folk music solo voice competition in 2018 to honor her memory.
Yalçın, whose life was tragically cut short while aspiring to become an academic, is remembered and honored at her grave, the site of the attack, and the school where she taught, on June 9 and on Teachers' Day every year.
Nazmi Altuner, the director of Şenay Aybüke Yalçın Science High School, who had the privilege of working with Yalçın, spoke fondly of her profound impact on the school, colleagues, and students.
There was no music class at the school until she came, Altuner said, adding: "She established a music class with her own means. She brought a few instruments of her own to the school. She was trying to make the music lesson practical."
Rabia Arıcı, one of the students who learned to play an instrument in the music class at the school, expressed her gratitude for the opportunity to study at the school where Yalçın had worked.
She said it was very meaningful for her to receive education in the music workshop Yalçın founded. "I wish she could have taught us music in this class, we would be very happy."
