Based on Amnesty International’s report and several newspaper articles, Kasım Alpsoy was born in 1964 in the Kemé (Yeşilöz) village of Mardin’s Midyat county. He moved to İstanbul with his family following the military coup of 1980 and the accompanying political and economic pressures. He was married and had four children and was working in a leather factory in Bayrampaşa (İstanbul).

One day there was a police raid at his work place. He was taken to the Police Headquarters in Gayrettepe (İstanbul) where he was severely tortured. They let him go after 2 weeks but he could not work for two months since he was left hanging in the Palestinian hanger for a long time.

Sometime during 1994, his cousin Halil Alpsoy was taken into custody in İstanbul while returning home from a visit with his wife and newly born, 40-day-old baby. Halil’s body, which was tortured almost beyond recognition , was found about 20 days later in a forested area in Kırıkkale.

A few days later, on 18th November 1994, Kasım Alpsoy’s house in Adana was raided by nearly 30 policemen. He was pulled out of bed, handcuffed, blindfolded and taken away. He was interrogated under torture at the Adana Intelligence Office, then released; after which he returned to the Adana Intelligence Office with a relative in order to retrieve his identity card as told the previous day. He never exited the building and the officers denied that he ever entered the premises on that day.

He has not been heard of or seen since then. His body has not been found.

His wife and family searched for him everywhere, applied to the Human Rights Association and to the Adana Public Prosecutor to no avail.