Eren Bülbül (1 January 2002 – 11 August 2017) was a Turkish 15-year-old boy from

Maçka Maçka (, the "club"; Laz language, Laz: მაჩხა ''Maçxa'') is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Trabzon Province, Turkey. Its area is 925 km2, and its population is 24,709 (2022). The name derives from the medieval ...

Trabzon Trabzon, historically known as Trebizond, is a city on the Black Sea coast of northeastern Turkey and the capital of Trabzon Province. The city was founded in 756 BC as "Trapezous" by colonists from Miletus. It was added into the Achaemenid E ...

who was killed during the clashes between the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK) and the Turkish security forces in part of a

Turkish military The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, ...

patrol during the Turkish-PKK conflict.

Life

The son of Ayşe and Hasan Bülbül, Bülbül was one of 12 children. He spent his entire life in Maçka, Trabzon, as he went to local Çatak Primary School and later Maçka Anatolian Religious High School. His father died in 2016. He worked in his family's farm and liked sports, being a fan of

Trabzonspor Trabzonspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Trabzon, located in Black Sea region, northeastern Turkey. Established in 1967 through the merger of several local clubs, Trabzonspor is one of the most prominent A ...

Death

On 11 August 2017, a group of PKK militants entered a house to obtain supplies after clashes with police. Bülbül saw them and informed the

gendarmerie A gendarmerie () is a paramilitary or military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to " men-at-arms" (). In France and so ...

. He accompanied the police, showing them the house which the militants had entered. As a result of an attack by the PKK, both Bülbül and Gendarmerie Sergeant Major Ferhat Gedik were killed. After his death, 41 bullets were taken out from Gedik's body.

Reactions

Later, Eren's mother Ayşe Bülbül said that his death had become the sorrow of the whole country. Additionally, his mother criticised the Turkish security forces who had taken her son with them to show where the PKK militants were hiding, saying: "My son would've liked to be a martyr but a martyr in the military, not in front of his door." The party leader of the

Republican Peoples' Party Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

(CHP) Kemal Kiliçdaroğlu as well as

Serpil Kemalbay Serpil Kemalbay Pekgözegü is a Turkish politician and former co-leader of the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP). Early life and education Serpil Kemalbay, whose full name is Serpil Kemalbay Pekgözegü, was born in Ardahan and completed her prim ...

of the Peoples Democratic Party (HDP) condemned the death of Bülbül.

Legacy

On 25 June 2019,

Turkish Airlines Turkish Airlines (Turkish language, Turkish: ''Türk Hava Yolları''), or legally Türk Hava Yolları Anonim Ortaklığı, is the flag carrier of Turkey. , it operates scheduled services to 352 destinations (including cargo) in Europe, Asia, Oce ...

launched a survey on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

to name the new

Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, wh ...

aircraft. Among the options suggested in the survey were ancient city names such as

Perga Perga or Perge ( Hittite: ''Parha'', ''Perge'', ) was originally an ancient Lycian settlement that later became a Greek city in Pamphylia. It was the capital of the Roman province of Pamphylia Secunda, now located in Antalya Province on the ...

Assos Assos (; , ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city near today's Behramkale () or Behram for short, which most people still call by its ancient name of Assos. It is located on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast in the Ayvacık, Çanakkale, Ayvac ...

Göbekli Tepe Göbekli Tepe (, ; Kurdish: or , 'Wish Hill') is a Neolithic archaeological site in Upper Mesopotamia (''al-Jazira'') in modern-day Turkey. The settlement was inhabited from around to at least , during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. It is famou ...

, and Zeugma, but Eren Bülbül's name was not included in the list. When many Twitter users initiated a campaign to put the name Eren Bülbül on the plane, Turkish Airlines responded by naming the plane after Bülbül's hometown

. In August 2021 Turkish manufacturer of special purpose and military vehicles,

Katmerciler Katmerciler is a Turkish defense industry, defense and automotive industry company established in 1985 in İzmir. The company produces Hızır 4x4 infantry mobility vehicle, infantry mobility, TOMA (vehicle), riot control, sanitation, and transp ...

, presented a new tactical vehicle, Katmerciler Eren, named after Eren Bülbül.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bülbül, Eren 2017 murders in Turkey August 2017 in Turkey August 2017 crimes in Asia History of Trabzon Province People from Maçka Deaths by firearm in Turkey People murdered in Turkey 2017 deaths Child murder in Turkey Incidents of violence against boys 2002 births Kurdistan Workers' Party insurgency Anti-Turkish sentiment

Life

Death

Reactions

Legacy

See also

References