Alevite Meeting For The Still Unsolved Maraş Massacre

[Alexandros]

Alevite Meeting For The Still Unsolved Maraş Massacre


Thousands of Alevites meet in Adana and demand the prosecution of the perpetrators of the 30 year old Maraş massacre. They sent their questions about the massacre to the President.

Bia news center - Adana

22-12-2008

Thousands of Alevites were at the meeting held at Adana by the Pir Sultan Abdal Culture Association (PSBKD) for the thirtieth anniversary of the Maraş massacre, where Alevites women, men and children were massacred by the fascist-sunnite majority.

The participants, who had come from the provinces of Adıyaman, Malatya, Sivas, Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir, demanded the opening of state’s secret archives and the prosecution of the real perpetrators of the massacre.


“We had trusted the state”

Metin Çelik, President of PSBKD’s Adana branch and one of those in the organizing committee, said, “We had trusted the state, we carry its identity cards but those identity cards were burned at Maraş thirty years ago.”

Çelik said they were having these meeting to bring the perpetrators of the massacre to justice.

Ali Balkız, President of the Alevite Bektashi Federation (ABF), said that they did and will not forget the events that took place at Maraş thity years ago.

Balkız also said that they made a demand regarding the dismissal of the Sivas massacre case for the statue of limitations at the hearing in Ankara last week.


“The Alevite history is the history of massacres”

Fevzi Gümüş, PSAKD’s president, said, “Trying to cover the Maraş massacre is a sin, a crime against humanity. The Maraş massacre is another Karbala in the history of Alevites. Maraş massacre is a wound that still bleeds within ourselves after thirty years as Karbala still does after centuries, because the perpetrators of Maraş are still not tried, like the perpetrators of May Day of 1977, Sivas, Çorum and Gazi are not.”

Stating that the Alevite history was the history of massacres, Turgut Öker, President of the Confederation of the European Alevite Associations, said, “We are never going to live more Maraş and Madımak massacres, because we are more organized now.”

The meeting ended with a concert by an artist who had lost his close ones in the massacre, Ozan Emekçi.

Many organizations such as the Revolutionary Confederation of the Trade Unions (DİSK), the Confederation of Public Employees Trade Unions (KESK), the Turkish Union of Chambers of Engineers and Architects (TMMOB), the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the People’s Houses, the Democratic Rights Federation and many local associations were at the meeting.


Thirteen questions to the President regarding the Maraş

The Platform Against Coups asked President Abdullah Gül thirteen questions about the Maraş massacre in its 30th anniversary: if the CIA agent Paul Henze had meetings in Maraş before the events, why was the report that was prepared after the massacre not made public, who were the four agents from the National Intelligence Organization (MİT) who participated in the events in Maraş and appeared in the archive of Ecevit, one of the former prime ministers, what was done about police officer Hasan Aydın who bombed the Çiçek movie theater. (BÇ/TB)

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[Alexandros]

Apology to Alevi’s on behalf of the government


Culture and Tourism Minister Ertuğrul Günay, delivering a speech at the "Alevi Research Institute," stated; "As a current member of the government, I apologize for all of the mistakes that have happened in the past."

Minister of Culture and Tourism Ertuğrul Günay, issued an apology "on behalf of the government" for all of the pain Alevi's have been made to suffer. Emphasizing that Alevi's have endured horrific incidents such as the Kahramanmaraş massacre in 1978, the events that took place in Çorum in 1980, as well as the infamous Sivas fire in the summer of 1993, and stated; "As a current member of the government, I want to apologize for all of the mistakes that have been made." The Alevi Research Institute was inaugurated yesterday in the Hacı Bektaş Veli Anatolian Culture Foundation.

The ceremony was attended by the Culture and Tourism Minister Günay as well as directors of Alevi organizations. Delivering a speech delivered at the inauguration, Günay, while listing the painful events in Alevi history, stated; "Serious provocation has been experienced, the type of which could bring the public against one another. However, the Alevi and Bektaşi tradition are so embedded in the Turkish Republic that thankfully none of these incidents have stuck with us and they have continued to serve this country with the strong morals of their tradition. I want to say, as a member of the government that I am not only grateful for this loyalty but I also want to apologize for all of the wrongdoings done in the past. I want to thank you for your unwavering belief and protection of the Turkish nation. "'

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[Steph]

solved!

From Hurriyet 29.12.2008

TRT blames producer on screening scandal

ANKARA - Turkey’s national public broadcaster caused a scandal when it screened a documentary in which murdered Armenian Turkish journalist Hrant Dink was portrayed as the provocateur of the deadly Maraş incidents of 1978.

In response to the strong public reactions to the documentary, the Turkish Radio and Television Corporation, or, TRT, blamed the producer of the documentary, the daily Hurriyet reported yesterday.

The 13-part documentary, "The Labyrinth of the Shahs," featured controversial images in its episode, shown Dec. 24, on the Maraş Massacre in which more than 100 people, most of Alevi origin, died. The program showcased the statements of Ökkeş Kenger, who later became Ökkeş Şendiller, the number one suspect of the massacre and one of the founders of the Grand Unity Party.

In the documentary he said, "What happened in Maraş at the time was not a conflict between the Alevis and Sunnis. Hrant Dink and his friends caused the events. Moreover, among the corpses there were six or seven uncircumcised bodies."

After Şendiller’s statements, Dink’s photographs were featured in the program. TRT officials, meanwhile, said what was said in the program was not TRT’s opinion and TRT had purchased the documentary from external sources. "They are not TRT’s views. The target of the program was not Hrant Dink. It deals with many political topics from that period and one of them was the Maraş events. There are many people interviewed in the documentary and Şendiller is among them," said TRT officials. "He says a few sentences. It is an allegation and the documentary was made in a particular journalistic style. If Dink’s family or lawyer said something, they would have been broadcast too," he said.