We went and saw every part of the scene of the massacre in the village of Roboski where 34 Kurdish civilians were killed in a bombardment by Turkish F-16 warplanes in December 2011. We talked to villagers from the villages of Ortasu, Gülyazı and Ortaköy who struggle for life by selling the goods, tea, sugar, flour, fuel and cigarette, they buy from South Kurdistan where they reach running the risk of death.

Soldiers in the region are also well aware of the activities of smuggling which is the single source of living for the people here. The soldiers deployed on hills on our route see smugglers even with the unaided eye. The smuggling on border line, at the risk of death, is performed within the knowledge of the state. We are following the smugglers' route where 34 people were killed by wrplanes in Roboski. The bones and saddles of the mules killed in the bombardment, as well as fuel cans, are still standing aside at the scene. We come across 13 years-old children and old villagers who lost their brothers, elder brothers and fathers in the massacre.  All these people have one single aim, to earn 70-100 TL after selling the goods they bring from across the border. They cross the border sometimes once a week and sometimes several times a month. 

We are walking with them as they cross the border and return with the 'smuggled' goods they buy in South Kurdistan. They ask us; "You are here and seeing what we are doing. We are not carrying heroin, weed or arms. Our single purpose is to earn our own bread and butter and to make a living for our children and families. We are afraid but we have to do it".  We take the road with groups of smugglers whom natural conditions in the region force to make a living by selling the tea, sugar, cigarette and other goods they bring from across the border that have been drawn beyond their will. The groups are made up of people from the villages of Roboski, Ortaköy and Gülyazı who take the road to the border on their mules. Among them are also 13 years-old children and people who lost their brothers and fathers in the massacre.

A certain part of the route is safe. As we come to the mountainside on mules on the advancing hours, we reach snow-covered areas where even mules have difficulty in making way. We see military bases built on the hills before us. We see soldiers with the naked eye, and so do they us...
Smugglers wend their way in groups, with a distance o 200-300 meters between each of them. When we ask them how they can continue while soldiers see them, they smoothly say that "Soldiers see us and know that we are smugglers, and that we bring oil, sugar and tea from across the border. Smuggling activities in this region are going on since the establishment of the Turkish Republic and it is performed in this way in border regions, from Ağrı to Hatay. We have to live and we have to go smuggling for it is the only source of income for the people here". By challenging harsh natural conditions, we continue moving with the groups of smugglers. As we cross the boundary stone numbered 15, which indicates the border between Turkey and South Kurdistan, we see after 20 meters the bones and saddles of the mules killed in Roboski Massacre. We learn that the second aerial assault on 28 December 2011 was carried out right here, i.e. at the zero point on the border.  

"Eighteen people of us were killed here", says a smuggler who lost his brother Seyithan in the massacre. "Smuggling is the only choice to make a living from in this region where there are no factories or lands suitable for animal raising. This is the only work we can do and we do it under the control of the state. They killed 34 our people with warplanes. However, we will not end standing upon our rights as long as we live”, he says. One other smuggler we talk to, aged around 60, says that; “Was there a work that the state offered us and we refused to do, lands we refused to cultivate and animals we refused to breed? My father and grandfather used to do the same work. I am also doing this work because we have no other choice. What has the state done for us since the establishment of the republic? We in this case have no other way around but to die of hunger, to migrate or to do this work at the risk of death. I maintain a family with ten members with the money I earn by selling the fuel I bring from across the border, which is 100 TL. We have students and ill people to earn a living for.

Now I am asking you what else we could do in this case. We face the risk of death every time we cross the border once a week or ten days. We would also like to lead a normal life and to do a normal work, however, as you see, we do this work at the risk of our lives. We are using the same route where 34 people were killed. We may seem to have lost our senses but you would do the same if you lived here”. Smugglers tell that the soldiers at the military posts on hills sometimes fire a warning shot when they see groups of smugglers on the way to the border. We later speak to one other smuggler, one of the three people who survived the Roboski Massacre. He says that he was in the group that had already crossed the South Kurdistan border when the first assault took place.

He tells the followings as to how the massacre was carried out; “We first heard the sound of a warplane, and a great explosion after that. We were standing in an area surrounded by mountains. I first couldn't realize what was happening as the bombs were first dropped on us. With the pressure of the bombing, I leaped into snow and I couldn't come to myself for the next 20 minutes, after which I saw mules and people had been scattered around into pieces, their organs standing side by side. Then I realized that I was not wounded but affected by the pressure. I was both crying and thinking about what to do. Then I walked up to the hill which was the only place where I could have cell signal.

I called several people from the village and told them that soldiers had bombed us and that everyone had died. I asked them for help but they didn't believe me, saying that it must be a warning shot fired by soldiers. 20 minutes later, bombs were dropped on the other group who were ahead of us, at the zero point of the border. Only three of us survived the massacre. They first deployed soldiers at the zero point on the border. When soldiers blocked the first group, the people there waited for some time, thinking that soldiers were there for warning and that they would leave soon. Following the withdrawal of soldiers, our group was the first to be bombed, followed by the bombing which targeted the other group”. 

He continues telling the followings; “I am still using the same route while going to smuggling several times a month. The shoes of the people killed there, remains of mules and fuel cans are still standing there at the scene. I see them and live that moment once again every time I pass there. It is not within reason that I, someone who witnessed and survived the massacre, am still risking the same incident and death to earn 100 TL. Tell me, what is the solution of this matter, as I risk death if I go and starving if I don't. I have no other opportunity to earn a living. Tell me what we should do”.     

Then we talk to 15 years-old Murat, a student at sixth class, who has been going smuggling for the last one year, since the Roboski massacre in other words. “I struggle to earn a living for my family with nine members because my father is not working. I lost nobody from my family but many of my relatives in the massacre. This is a quite difficult work which is however a must for us who have to challenge the cold weather and face the risk of freezing. We would never do this work if we had something to eat and drink at home. This is, as a matter of fact, a shame of the state which forces all the people here to do this work”, he says.

We then talk to 16 years-old Serkan who has been going smuggling for three years. He says he lost five cousins and six friends of his in the massacre and tells that “When we are crossing the zero point on the border, we picture the massacre in our minds and see the same thing every time we pass there. We are both afraid and saddened. I am not afraid of sharing the same faith with them as I have no other choice other than this work”.

Then we speak to one other who has been going smuggling for 15 years, since he was 14. He lost his two brothers, 13 years-old Orhan and 16 years-old Zeydan, in the Roboski massacre. His uncle died as a result of a mine explosion near the border. He tells that all those who go to smuggling are relatives of village guards and do this work to earn their living. He says he crosses the border 3-4 times and earns around 400-500 TL a month.

He says they expect the state to take steps to build working areas in the region, and adds; “We wouldn't risk our lives if we did have an alternative. We are doing this work in fear that we will step on mines or be targeted by soldiers with howitzers and warplanes. We risk our lives while trying to earn 100-200 TL for our children. There are no other works we can do here, such as animal breeding or working at factories. So, what would you do if you lived here?”.
He tells about an air strike that he and some other smugglers could at the last moment survive in 1999. “The same thing happened in 1999 as a group of smugglers were making their way on the other side of the border. After being informed that cobra type helicopters had taken off for an operation in the region, a soldier from the regiment in Gülyazı called the village head and informed him about the situation. They later avoided the bombardment when the village head told them that it was villagers they saw. However, it didn't happen like that this time. We would never expect the Turkish Republic to carry out such an operation. What was the sin of 13 years-old children who were going smuggling only to earn some pocket money?”.

Following a challenging travel of five hours, we once again take our way with the same groups of smugglers. They load the goods they have bought from across the border on their mules. On the way back, we pass the scene of the massacre, seeing shoes of victims, pieces of blankets, bones, horseshoes and saddles of mules still standing there. Before it gets dark, we cross the Turkish border together with smugglers from the three villages. Soldiers on hills are again watching us return, just like they watched us going. 

* Early this year Nudem Ateş walked crossed the border with villagers from Roboski, walking the same route the 34 villagers killed in 2011 walked.