Can Atalay and Selçuk Kozağaçlı are both lawyers. In the Soma trial, they defended the families of those who died in the mine explosion of Soma in 2014.
Selçuk Kozağaçlı is one of the many political prisoners detained following the attempted coup of 2016. He was condemned to 11 years in prison. Detained since 2017, he was suddenly released on the 16th of April 2025 and arrested again the next day.
Accused of “having organised” the Gezi protests of 2013, Can Atalay is one of seven people condemned to 18 years in prison in 2022. The following year, he was elected MP of Hatay -one of the regions which were severely affected by the earthquake of the 6th of February 2023) for the Workers’ Party of Turkey (TIP). However, he is still unconstitutionally imprisoned.
The two lawyers are the only individuals involved in the Soma case to be in prison. Those responsible for the neglect which led to the catastrophe have not suffered any consequences.
19th of April 2015,
Silivri Prison, 9-A47
Hello Selçuk; on the 25th of April 2022, as we were brought to Silivri, we could hear a distant voice: “Welcome !”. It was Selçuk Kozağaçlı, an experienced prisoner, who was calling out to us. On the day he was discharged, I was about to call out to him “Farewell Selçuk, see you soon when we can work shoulder to shoulder as lawyers again” but I heard he was already brought back to Silivri. It doesn’t matter, here too we are working shoulder to shoulder towards freedom! We will come over the infernal situation Turkey is going through. We will come over these laws applied according to “individuals”, this unlawfulness to be exact, this arbitrariness. We won’t lose hope. We will be together once again and, as lawyers, defend rights shoulder to shoulder.
Can Atalay elected MP of Hatay
İSTASYON editions EN 