From Europe News:
ERBIL, Iraqi Kurdistan -- Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s apology for the massacre in Dersim has created new tensions between Erdogen’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) and the main opposition group, the People’s Republican Party (CHP).
Survivors and relatives of the victims of the 1937-1938 massacre have called on Turkish politicians not to use the death of their loved ones to settle their own scores. They have also called on Erdogan to open up state archives regarding the massacre and disclose the location of the grave of Sayed Reza, the leader of the Dersim revolt.
On November 23, Erdogen apologized for the Dersim massacre during a televised AKP meeting in Ankara.
Most of Dersim’s residents are Alavite Kurds who speak the Zazayi dialect of Kurdish. The area has been consistently attacked by the Turkish military due to consecutive revolts against the Turkish state.
While many consider the Dersim massacre genocide, a Turkish court ruled in March 2011 that the killings did not target an ethnic group and therefore did not constitute genocide. It is unknown how many people were killed during and after the massacre, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 100,000.
The massacre created a massive public debate when Erdogan apologized and attacked the leader of the CHP, Kamal Kilicdaroglu. CHP ran the Turkish government during the killings.
As state troops marched into Dersim to crush the revolt 73 years ago, they executed its leader Sayed Reza and his close associates.
The terrifying stories of the massacre -- including the murder of pregnant women and kidnapping and selling Kurdish women -- have become the subject of many folk songs and stories in the Dersim area. (...)
Apology for Massacre Sparks Debate in Turkey
Rudaw in English 1 December 2011
By HEMIN KHOSHNAW
By HEMIN KHOSHNAW
Survivors and relatives of the victims of the 1937-1938 massacre have called on Turkish politicians not to use the death of their loved ones to settle their own scores. They have also called on Erdogan to open up state archives regarding the massacre and disclose the location of the grave of Sayed Reza, the leader of the Dersim revolt.
On November 23, Erdogen apologized for the Dersim massacre during a televised AKP meeting in Ankara.
Most of Dersim’s residents are Alavite Kurds who speak the Zazayi dialect of Kurdish. The area has been consistently attacked by the Turkish military due to consecutive revolts against the Turkish state.
While many consider the Dersim massacre genocide, a Turkish court ruled in March 2011 that the killings did not target an ethnic group and therefore did not constitute genocide. It is unknown how many people were killed during and after the massacre, with estimates ranging from 10,000 to 100,000.
The massacre created a massive public debate when Erdogan apologized and attacked the leader of the CHP, Kamal Kilicdaroglu. CHP ran the Turkish government during the killings.
As state troops marched into Dersim to crush the revolt 73 years ago, they executed its leader Sayed Reza and his close associates.
The terrifying stories of the massacre -- including the murder of pregnant women and kidnapping and selling Kurdish women -- have become the subject of many folk songs and stories in the Dersim area. (...)
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