Slain Diyarbakır bar head Elçi remembered on anniversary of murder

Tahir Elçi, the Diyarbakır Bar Association head who was killed in an armed clash in November 2015 in Diyarbakır, was remembered on the anniversary of his murder in Istanbul and the southeastern province of Diyarbakır.

The commemoration in Istanbul was organized by the opposition Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) and included the reading of a message from imprisoned HDP co-chair Selahattin Demirtaş. 

"His legacy to us is to speak the truth in every condition, and we will never retreat from it," Demirtaş's message read.

Another commemoration was held in Diyarbakır with the participation of Türkan Elçi, the lawyer's widow.

Members of the Diyarbakır bar, main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Istanbul lawmaker Sezgin Tanrıkulu, HDP lawmakers Meral Danış Beştaş and Ahmet Yıldırım and representatives of NGOs also attended the commemoration. 

"This case should be solved as soon as possible," Diyarbakır Bar Head Ahmet Özmen said, adding that society had a debt to pay to the bar head. 

Elçi's murder is becoming an unsolved murder, Türkan Elçi said. 

"There is no indictment, no witness and no suspect," she told daily Cumhuriyet on Nov. 28, adding that she was losing hope as time goes by.

"I lose hope when I see the stories on the murder in the news because you feel that the majority of the efforts aren't directed toward finding the criminal," she said. 

"Tahir's murder is one that no one wants to claim. We can say that the fact that the murder hasn't been claimed shows how the killers became afraid in the face of Tahir's purity, innocence and bravery," she added. 

During her interview, Elçi stressed that it was important to find the killer and not who the killer is. 

"The...