Turkey: Mass graves from 1997 to be opened by court/There are over 100 mass graves

litwin · Jan 26, 2012

look like a war crime to me ...are you agree?

ISTANBUL - Radikal | 8/10/2011 12:00:00 AM | Ismail Saymaz

A specially authorized prosecutors office in Malatya has ruled in favor of opening the mass grave of militants allegedly killed by tank fire in clashes with government forces in the nearby eastern province of Tunceli in 1997.

A specially authorized prosecutors office in Malatya has ruled in favor of opening the mass grave of militants allegedly killed by tank fire in clashes with government forces in the nearby eastern province of Tunceli in 1997.

The decision comes after Hüsnü Yıldız, the brother of deceased militant Ali Yıldız, went on a hunger strike nine weeks ago to find the latters body.

This [decision] is a consequence of our hunger strike, our persistence over this issue, the transformation of the protest into a death fast, the rallying of all the people from abroad and from within [the country, and due to the fact that] I spoke about how I loved my brothers thoughts right in front of [Family and Social Policies] Minister Fatma Şahin, Yıldız said, adding that the state had finally agreed to open the graves after steadfastly refusing to do so previously.

The grave will be exhumed on Friday between 9 and 10 a.m. the court told Yıldızs lawyer, Taylan Tanay, on Wednesday. After the bodies are removed, the bones will be examined to conduct DNA tests before the remains are handed over to the militants families. The whole process is expected to take about two days.

There are over 100 mass graves in Turkey. About 2,000 of our people are lying [there.] This is a first step. I hope we can be rid of the disgrace of mass graves and that a judicial investigation is not neglected, said Tanay, the president of the Istanbul branch of the Contemporary Lawyers Association, or ÇHD.

Sixteen members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK, were allegedly killed by tank fire in the Çemişgezek district of Tunceli in 1997. While two of the bodies were turned over to their families after an autopsy, the rest were allegedly buried near the garrison.
Mass graves mapped out in eastern Anatolia
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DİYARBAKIR Daily News with Radikal | 1/24/2011 12:00:00 AM |

The recent discovery of human bones in the Mutki district of Bitlis province has brought renewed attention to mass graves in Eastern Anatolia.

The recent discovery of human bones in the Mutki district of Bitlis province has brought renewed attention to mass graves in eastern Anatolia, where unsolved murders have created a mystical culture around the deaths.

Local residents tell supernatural stories about ghosts and the bodies of relatives who went missing in the region years ago and have never been found. Some are believed to have been killed after being detained by security forces, while other unidentified mass graves are thought to hold the remains of murdered members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK.

The Human Rights Association, or İHD, has been collecting information about places where mass graves might be located. One such tip came from Ahmet Müslüm Sadioğlu, the voluntary imam of the Başkale district of Van province. His father, mother, brother, uncle, aunt and cousin went missing while herding their animals in 1994. Sadioğlu, who was doing his military service at the time, was later informed by soldiers that the family had been killed by members of the outlawed PKK on Çiringiz Mountain.
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[Your family members] did not become village guards. Look what happened to them, Sadioğlu said the soldier told him. When he asked for the bodies of his relatives, he was detained and kept in custody for three days.

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Turkey: Mass graves from 1997 to be opened by court/There are over 100 mass graves

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Turkey: Mass graves from 1997 to be opened by court/There are over 100 mass graves

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