Demonstration in Dersim
Demonstration in Dersim
Forty five civil society organizations, political parties and unions joined in the Democracy Platform have yesterday organized a "37-38 Meeting" in front of Seyit Rýza Square in Dersim. The meeting was joined by thousands of people including BDP(Peace and Democracy Party) MP Demir Çelik, artist Ferhat Tunç on behalf of People’s Democratic Congress (HDK), Dersim Mayor Edibe Þahin, Seyit Rýza’s granddaughter Zeliha Polat and survivors and witnesses of Dersim Genocide.
Among the genocide survivors who shared their memories of that painful period, 90-year-old Ýmoþ Bakýray stated that the state dissembled the crime it committed and the fact that soldiers burnt people alive in caves.
Reading a declaration on behalf of 45 institutions, Pertek Mayor Kenan Çetin listed the demands that would enable to establish the truth of Dersim Genocide as follows;
-The savagery in Dersim should juridically be determined in all extents. The responsible and perpetrators of this savagery should clearly be ascertained,
- Immediate steps should be taken such as announcing the burial place of Seyit Rýza and his comrades, determining mass slaughter scenes and disclosing the lists of Dersim’s lost daughters who were exiled and given up for adoption
- A Truth Investigation Commission should be established with the participation of independent historians and NGO representatives who should officially investigate and reveal this process,
- All state archives should precisely and unconditionally be disclosed to this commission and public in terms of determining all devastations caused by this crime against humanity,
- The committed crime should be admitted and an apology should be made at the Parliament to Dersim’s people and the humanity on behalf of the state,
- The name Tunceli, dedicated to the Tunç Eli (bronze hand) operation, should indisputably be replaced by the name Dersim and the ban on former local names should be removed,
- The names involved in the genocide should be erased from our territory.
The Prime Minister opportunistic apology
In his apology Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said that “Dersim is among the most tragic event in near history. It is a disaster that should be now questioned with courage. The party that should confront this incident is not the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party]. It is the CHP, which is behind this bloody disaster, who should face this incident and its chairman from Tunceli.” And he added "“Is it me who should apologise or you [referring to CHP leader Kemal Kýlýçdaroðlu]? If there should be an apology on behalf of the state and if there is such an opportunity, I can do it and I am apologising. But if there is someone who should apologise on behalf of the CHP, it is you as you are from Dersim. You were saying you felt honored to be from Dersim. Now, save your honour.”
In the widening debate, Erdoðan said at his party's group meeting in Parliament on Tuesday that he planned to release a number of state documents about the incident on Wednesday. He then read excerpts from archive documents related to the massacre on Wednesday, saying thousands of people, including women and children, were killed during the Dersim operation and that the CHP was the part of the single-party government of the time.
Among the genocide survivors who shared their memories of that painful period, 90-year-old Ýmoþ Bakýray stated that the state dissembled the crime it committed and the fact that soldiers burnt people alive in caves.
Reading a declaration on behalf of 45 institutions, Pertek Mayor Kenan Çetin listed the demands that would enable to establish the truth of Dersim Genocide as follows;
-The savagery in Dersim should juridically be determined in all extents. The responsible and perpetrators of this savagery should clearly be ascertained,
- Immediate steps should be taken such as announcing the burial place of Seyit Rýza and his comrades, determining mass slaughter scenes and disclosing the lists of Dersim’s lost daughters who were exiled and given up for adoption
- A Truth Investigation Commission should be established with the participation of independent historians and NGO representatives who should officially investigate and reveal this process,
- All state archives should precisely and unconditionally be disclosed to this commission and public in terms of determining all devastations caused by this crime against humanity,
- The committed crime should be admitted and an apology should be made at the Parliament to Dersim’s people and the humanity on behalf of the state,
- The name Tunceli, dedicated to the Tunç Eli (bronze hand) operation, should indisputably be replaced by the name Dersim and the ban on former local names should be removed,
- The names involved in the genocide should be erased from our territory.
The Prime Minister opportunistic apology
In his apology Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoðan said that “Dersim is among the most tragic event in near history. It is a disaster that should be now questioned with courage. The party that should confront this incident is not the ruling Justice and Development Party [AK Party]. It is the CHP, which is behind this bloody disaster, who should face this incident and its chairman from Tunceli.” And he added "“Is it me who should apologise or you [referring to CHP leader Kemal Kýlýçdaroðlu]? If there should be an apology on behalf of the state and if there is such an opportunity, I can do it and I am apologising. But if there is someone who should apologise on behalf of the CHP, it is you as you are from Dersim. You were saying you felt honored to be from Dersim. Now, save your honour.”
In the widening debate, Erdoðan said at his party's group meeting in Parliament on Tuesday that he planned to release a number of state documents about the incident on Wednesday. He then read excerpts from archive documents related to the massacre on Wednesday, saying thousands of people, including women and children, were killed during the Dersim operation and that the CHP was the part of the single-party government of the time.
