Another mass grave located in Bismil
Another mass grave located in Bismil
Another mass grave were Kurdish guerrillas are alleged to have been buried emerged in the village of Ýçgeçit near Bitlis. According to witness Hekim Çelik, two HPG members who had lost their life in 1994 had been buried together without religious ceremonies. Çelik also said that the bodies were abused and showed to people to set an example for Kurdish peasants who want to fight for their freedom.
Another mass grave said to contain the remains of eight PKK members, who had lost their life in Amanos Mountains in Hatay in 1998, will not be opened because of a limitation imposed by the law, stated Erzin Public Prosecutor. The place were the mass grave is located is currently being used as a garbage site.
Turkey learned of the presence of mass graves in 1989, when a Kurdish journalist, Gunay Aslan, had revealed their existence. Kasaplar Deresi (Butcher's Creek), an army trash heap in the province of Siirt, was the first mass grave discovered. Nine people were exhumed by the authorities there, and the names of at least 73 others buried in this mass grave came to light. The guerrillas who lost their life in clashes or people abducted by the security forces were thrown there, sometimes from garbage vehicles. More than 100 bodies were recovered from this mass grave over the past 20 years.
As it soon was to be discovered this was not an isolated event. Indeed at least 31 mass graves have been discovered by human rights organizations and inhabitants of the Kurdish region. Two mass graves were discovered in September 2010 in Diyarbakir, capital of the Kurdish region, where clothing and bones of PKK members had been found.
The Human Rights Association (ÝHD) claims to have been informed of the existence of more than 100 mass graves in Bitlis province alone, an arid populated mainly by Kurds. Testimonies from villagers and PKK members have brought to the discovery of the exact locations of mass graves. Many are located in the cities of Bitlis, Siirt, Hakkari, Sirnak, Diyarbakýr, Batman and Bingol. Extrajudicial killings; summary executions; burned bodies, bodies mutilated or crushed by tanks; severed heads; fighters and villagers thrown from helicopters; signs of torture; and evidence of chemical weapons are listed among the crimes committed before the mass burying.
IHD reports that mass graves are located in Newala Qasaba, Eruh town centre, Twan, Þawiran, Çevirimtepe (Girdika), Ergüven (Baluka), Kikan, Yeþilkonak (Kadîya), Kurtalan, Harat, Ekmekçiler (Binêve), Gözpýnar, Yelkesen (Basixrê) and Bozatlý (Basnê) village countryside in Siirt, Hizan, Arsan River (Newala Warê Hiro), Kokarsu (Arpêt), Býndaki mountain, the countryside of Tatvan, Çakalsöðüt (Xaþtax), between Hora Þêxan and Hora Kurmanca, Cengiz Village, Pýhok, Duav Pasture, Güroymak, Mutki and Dikilitaþ zone in Bitlis. There are also 19 graveyards in different locations in Diyarbakýr, 9 in Van, 8 in Batman, 6 in Hakkari, 5 in Bingöl, 4 in Þýrnak, 4 in Mardin and 1 each in Elazýð, Aðrý, Iðdýr and Gaziantep.
According the latest report of the IHD Diyarbakýr Branch 469 corpses had been secretly buried in 114 mass graves in Turkey since 1989. Over the past years, authorities have exhumed 171 corpses from 26 mass graves.
Another mass grave said to contain the remains of eight PKK members, who had lost their life in Amanos Mountains in Hatay in 1998, will not be opened because of a limitation imposed by the law, stated Erzin Public Prosecutor. The place were the mass grave is located is currently being used as a garbage site.
Turkey learned of the presence of mass graves in 1989, when a Kurdish journalist, Gunay Aslan, had revealed their existence. Kasaplar Deresi (Butcher's Creek), an army trash heap in the province of Siirt, was the first mass grave discovered. Nine people were exhumed by the authorities there, and the names of at least 73 others buried in this mass grave came to light. The guerrillas who lost their life in clashes or people abducted by the security forces were thrown there, sometimes from garbage vehicles. More than 100 bodies were recovered from this mass grave over the past 20 years.
As it soon was to be discovered this was not an isolated event. Indeed at least 31 mass graves have been discovered by human rights organizations and inhabitants of the Kurdish region. Two mass graves were discovered in September 2010 in Diyarbakir, capital of the Kurdish region, where clothing and bones of PKK members had been found.
The Human Rights Association (ÝHD) claims to have been informed of the existence of more than 100 mass graves in Bitlis province alone, an arid populated mainly by Kurds. Testimonies from villagers and PKK members have brought to the discovery of the exact locations of mass graves. Many are located in the cities of Bitlis, Siirt, Hakkari, Sirnak, Diyarbakýr, Batman and Bingol. Extrajudicial killings; summary executions; burned bodies, bodies mutilated or crushed by tanks; severed heads; fighters and villagers thrown from helicopters; signs of torture; and evidence of chemical weapons are listed among the crimes committed before the mass burying.
IHD reports that mass graves are located in Newala Qasaba, Eruh town centre, Twan, Þawiran, Çevirimtepe (Girdika), Ergüven (Baluka), Kikan, Yeþilkonak (Kadîya), Kurtalan, Harat, Ekmekçiler (Binêve), Gözpýnar, Yelkesen (Basixrê) and Bozatlý (Basnê) village countryside in Siirt, Hizan, Arsan River (Newala Warê Hiro), Kokarsu (Arpêt), Býndaki mountain, the countryside of Tatvan, Çakalsöðüt (Xaþtax), between Hora Þêxan and Hora Kurmanca, Cengiz Village, Pýhok, Duav Pasture, Güroymak, Mutki and Dikilitaþ zone in Bitlis. There are also 19 graveyards in different locations in Diyarbakýr, 9 in Van, 8 in Batman, 6 in Hakkari, 5 in Bingöl, 4 in Þýrnak, 4 in Mardin and 1 each in Elazýð, Aðrý, Iðdýr and Gaziantep.
According the latest report of the IHD Diyarbakýr Branch 469 corpses had been secretly buried in 114 mass graves in Turkey since 1989. Over the past years, authorities have exhumed 171 corpses from 26 mass graves.
