Professor İlhan Varank, brother of Mustafa Varank, who is President Erdoğan’s chief consultant, he first went to Vatan Avenue on the night of July 15. After the putschist soldiers there surrendered, he ran to the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality building where he was killed by putschist soldiers who were shooting at the civilians in front of the building.
Varank was born in 1971 and dedicated his life to education. After graduating from Necatibey University’s Faculty of Education, Varank completed a master’s degree in computer teaching techniques at Ohio State University in the U.S. on a scholarship from the National Education Ministry. He received his doctorate in the same field. Varank, who started working at Afyon Kocatepe University after returning to Turkey, was the head of the Computer and Teaching Technologies Education Department at Yıldız Technical University.
Varank went onto the streets and joined the crowd in front of Istanbul Police Headquarters in Vatan Avenue as soon as he heard about the coup attempt. He put his life at risk to disrupt the coup plans. The resistance from the people who answered the president’s call by going onto the streets was effective and the soldiers at Vatan Avenue surrendered. But the coup attempt was not over. Varank found out that there was a shooting in front of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality building and ran there as soon as possible to sustain the resistance.
‘This is Çanakkale’
Putschist soldiers started shooting at the people who gathered in front of the municipality building. One person fell after each shot. Varank acted like a big brother to everyone around him and tried to protect them. He warned the young people around him by showing where the troops were shooting. Varank was shot and fell to the ground while he was shouting: “This is Çanakkale!” He was heavily injured but still did not give up. He told the people around him not to fear. They put Varank in a car and sent him to a hospital. Varank succumbed to his wounds at the hospital.
Varank’s phone, which he dropped at the spot he was shot, rang a short time later. One of the young people he had helped answered the phone and said: “Sir, the owner of this phone was a brave man. He was shot a minute ago. They took him [to the hospital].”
‘We have faith’
A ceremony was held for Varank. His brother Mustafa Varank, AK Party Istanbul Provincial Head Selim Temurci, Yıldız Technical University Rector İsmail Yüksek, faculty members, his students and close friends attended the ceremony. There was a moment of silence in the ceremony and a recitation of the national anthem . After that, the Quran was recited and prayers were recited. After the ceremony, Varank’s body was taken to Fatih Mosque where the funeral was held. President Erdoğan also attended the funeral. In the speech he gave at the funeral, Erdoğan said: “They stood against the terrorists by saying if they have tanks, we have faith.”Varank was killed at 45 while protesting the FETÖ coup attempt. He was married and had two children.The name Martyr Professor Dr. İlhan Varank was given to the science and art center in Balıkesir, the Anatolian imam hatip high school and girls Anatolian imam hatip high school in Karşıyaka in İzmir, an imam hatip middle school, in Salihli in Manisa, and a middle school in Artuklu in Mardin.
