Main suspect in Madimak massacre died in Sivas
Main suspect in Madimak massacre died in Sivas
News have reached families of those who died in the Sivas Madimak fire that one of the chief suspects in the massacre, Cafer Erçakmak, has died and has been buried in Sivas.
Erçakmak, 72, had been hiding for the past 14 years. Some had said he was living in France, but apparently he had been returned to Sivas.
Regarded as the leading instigator in the Madýmak fire that killed 37 people, Erçakmak was secretly buried by his close acquaintances in the Yukarýtekke Cemetery on Sunday, according to the Doðan news agency, or DHA.
Erçakmak death report as well as the burial document obtained from the municipality bore the name Cafer Erçakmak. The police are currently investigating a possible location for Erçakmak’s hideout, while anti-terror police teams have already searched the cemetery. Erçakmak, who was a member of the Sivas municipal council from the Islamist-rooted Welfare Party (Refah Party) in 1993, was sought by Interpol with a red notice, while some claimed he was hiding in France.
The president of the Alevi Bektaþi Federasyonu (Alevi Bektaþi Federation) Selahattin Özel published a press release yesterday after learning of the news of the death of Erçakmak. In his statement he asks the AKP government a number of questions. For example how is it possible, if news will be proven true, that the main instigator of the fire, a man sought internationally by Interpol, could simply return and live in Sivas without anyone noting it.
A group of religious extremists set fire to the Madýmak Hotel on July 2, 1993, when participants in the Pir Sultan Abdal Festival were staying at the hotel, resulting in the deaths of 37 intellectuals as well as two hotel personnel. Last week the demonstration to commemorate the victims of the massacre was forbidden by the governor and when the people marched to the Madimak the police attacked the crowd.
Some 85 suspects received prison sentences ranging from two to 15 years in connection with the massacre, while another 37 suspects were acquitted in December 1994 by the now-defunct State Security Court, or DGM, on charges of “attempting to establish a theocratic state by overturning the secular constitutional order.”
The Supreme Court of Appeals reversed that decision by stating the massacre was directed against “the republic, secularism and democracy.” The First Ankara State Security Court then re run the trials and sentenced 33 suspects to death and 14 suspects to prison for up to 15 years in 1997.
At present the total number of suspects in the Madýmak Massacre has come down to 33, with some former suspects having been released. Many of the defendants’ lawyers were also noted to be members of the Welfare Party.
Erçakmak, 72, had been hiding for the past 14 years. Some had said he was living in France, but apparently he had been returned to Sivas.
Regarded as the leading instigator in the Madýmak fire that killed 37 people, Erçakmak was secretly buried by his close acquaintances in the Yukarýtekke Cemetery on Sunday, according to the Doðan news agency, or DHA.
Erçakmak death report as well as the burial document obtained from the municipality bore the name Cafer Erçakmak. The police are currently investigating a possible location for Erçakmak’s hideout, while anti-terror police teams have already searched the cemetery. Erçakmak, who was a member of the Sivas municipal council from the Islamist-rooted Welfare Party (Refah Party) in 1993, was sought by Interpol with a red notice, while some claimed he was hiding in France.
The president of the Alevi Bektaþi Federasyonu (Alevi Bektaþi Federation) Selahattin Özel published a press release yesterday after learning of the news of the death of Erçakmak. In his statement he asks the AKP government a number of questions. For example how is it possible, if news will be proven true, that the main instigator of the fire, a man sought internationally by Interpol, could simply return and live in Sivas without anyone noting it.
A group of religious extremists set fire to the Madýmak Hotel on July 2, 1993, when participants in the Pir Sultan Abdal Festival were staying at the hotel, resulting in the deaths of 37 intellectuals as well as two hotel personnel. Last week the demonstration to commemorate the victims of the massacre was forbidden by the governor and when the people marched to the Madimak the police attacked the crowd.
Some 85 suspects received prison sentences ranging from two to 15 years in connection with the massacre, while another 37 suspects were acquitted in December 1994 by the now-defunct State Security Court, or DGM, on charges of “attempting to establish a theocratic state by overturning the secular constitutional order.”
The Supreme Court of Appeals reversed that decision by stating the massacre was directed against “the republic, secularism and democracy.” The First Ankara State Security Court then re run the trials and sentenced 33 suspects to death and 14 suspects to prison for up to 15 years in 1997.
At present the total number of suspects in the Madýmak Massacre has come down to 33, with some former suspects having been released. Many of the defendants’ lawyers were also noted to be members of the Welfare Party.
