Prisoners in Bayrampasa 2000 operation kept in cells
Prisoners in Bayrampasa 2000 operation kept in cells
The “Return to Life” operation was carried out in several prisons in order to solve the so-called “prison problem” and to end the death fast of prisoners who protested their transfer to F-type prisons on 19 January 2000 in Turkey.
The operation started in 20 prisons simultaneously and involved thousands of convicts and ten thousands of security personnel. 32 people died in the operation, among them two soldiers. Hundreds of detainees and convicts were injured.
For the first time, Special Gendarmerie Sergeant Altan Sabsýz talked about what happened during the “Return to Life” operation in the Bayrampaþa Prison in Istanbul. Sabsýz stated that the prisoners did not set themselves on fire as it was alleged. Instead, the doors of the prison cells were kept closed, even though the prisoners wanted to surrender, reports bianet.
Giving his statement before the 1st High Criminal Court of Van Sabsýz said, “Gas bombs that included different, unknown substances were used. The people in the burning cells were not allowed to come out to surrender. Nobody intervened against the fire; blankets soaked in combustible liquids were thrown on top of the burning prisoners.”
Sabsýz marked that nobody had asked for a statement from him throughout the past eleven years.
Only in the Bayrampaþa Prison, twelve detainees and convicts died and 55 people were wounded. Five women burnt to death. An official statement issued after the operation announced that the prisoners set themselves on fire. However, Sabsýz's statement disproved the official statement and revealed that the prisoners were left to die. Moreover, his statement confuted the official announcement's allegation that the “prisoners resisted with the force of arms.”
According to bianet’s report, Sabsýz made the following points in his statement:
* Members sent from the Ankara Gendarmerie Command Special Security Command (JKÖAK) and other personnel intervened with gunfire. The detainees and convicts reacted by locking themselves in their cells.
* Holes were drilled into the prison walls and the ceilings to throw gas bombs. He does not know what was inside the bombs, and they were not on their inventory. Even though he had been involved in the organization for a long time, automatic rifles that he had never seen before were used.
* When he was waiting on the corridor, inmates from a cell with women detainees and convicts banged on the door. They wanted to get out. They asked them to open the doors so they could come out. They did not intervene because they had no such order. After a short while, the cell was burning. The fire brigade team at the scene did not intervene either.
* When they entered the cell, they saw that the women were burnt like coal. It did not make sense to him that they had burnt to that degree because the only items in the cell were a bed and a blanket and the burnt bodies were lying a distance from the bed.
* Some of his ranked colleagues at JKÖAK that he met years later said that they told the prisoners, “We will save you. We are going to throw down wet blankets. Protect yourselves and wrap yourselves inside of them.” In fact, these blankets had been soaked in combustible liquids and they said that they worked like a fire accelerant.
Birsen Kars was incarcerated in the women’s ward at the time of the operation. When she was taken to hospital afterwards she shouted, “They burned alive!” She had said in her statement given earlier, “While they were opening fire on them, they continuously threw gas bombs through the perforated ceiling at the same time. Also, they used a black colored gas, which was a nerve gas. The inmates’ hair and skin came off and later the fire broke out.”
It was put forward in the trial that a “chemical weapon” had been used against the people who burnt to death. This thesis was proven by the claim that “the clothes of the prisoners remained intact while their skin had peeled off from burning.”
The Prime Minister at the time, Bülent Ecevit, declared after the operation, “These terrorists have to finally understand that they cannot keep up with the government.”
Sabsýz’s statement was forwarded to the Bakýrköy (Istanbul) 13th Heavy Criminal Court which handles the corresponding trial against 39 private soldiers.
The operation started in 20 prisons simultaneously and involved thousands of convicts and ten thousands of security personnel. 32 people died in the operation, among them two soldiers. Hundreds of detainees and convicts were injured.
For the first time, Special Gendarmerie Sergeant Altan Sabsýz talked about what happened during the “Return to Life” operation in the Bayrampaþa Prison in Istanbul. Sabsýz stated that the prisoners did not set themselves on fire as it was alleged. Instead, the doors of the prison cells were kept closed, even though the prisoners wanted to surrender, reports bianet.
Giving his statement before the 1st High Criminal Court of Van Sabsýz said, “Gas bombs that included different, unknown substances were used. The people in the burning cells were not allowed to come out to surrender. Nobody intervened against the fire; blankets soaked in combustible liquids were thrown on top of the burning prisoners.”
Sabsýz marked that nobody had asked for a statement from him throughout the past eleven years.
Only in the Bayrampaþa Prison, twelve detainees and convicts died and 55 people were wounded. Five women burnt to death. An official statement issued after the operation announced that the prisoners set themselves on fire. However, Sabsýz's statement disproved the official statement and revealed that the prisoners were left to die. Moreover, his statement confuted the official announcement's allegation that the “prisoners resisted with the force of arms.”
According to bianet’s report, Sabsýz made the following points in his statement:
* Members sent from the Ankara Gendarmerie Command Special Security Command (JKÖAK) and other personnel intervened with gunfire. The detainees and convicts reacted by locking themselves in their cells.
* Holes were drilled into the prison walls and the ceilings to throw gas bombs. He does not know what was inside the bombs, and they were not on their inventory. Even though he had been involved in the organization for a long time, automatic rifles that he had never seen before were used.
* When he was waiting on the corridor, inmates from a cell with women detainees and convicts banged on the door. They wanted to get out. They asked them to open the doors so they could come out. They did not intervene because they had no such order. After a short while, the cell was burning. The fire brigade team at the scene did not intervene either.
* When they entered the cell, they saw that the women were burnt like coal. It did not make sense to him that they had burnt to that degree because the only items in the cell were a bed and a blanket and the burnt bodies were lying a distance from the bed.
* Some of his ranked colleagues at JKÖAK that he met years later said that they told the prisoners, “We will save you. We are going to throw down wet blankets. Protect yourselves and wrap yourselves inside of them.” In fact, these blankets had been soaked in combustible liquids and they said that they worked like a fire accelerant.
Birsen Kars was incarcerated in the women’s ward at the time of the operation. When she was taken to hospital afterwards she shouted, “They burned alive!” She had said in her statement given earlier, “While they were opening fire on them, they continuously threw gas bombs through the perforated ceiling at the same time. Also, they used a black colored gas, which was a nerve gas. The inmates’ hair and skin came off and later the fire broke out.”
It was put forward in the trial that a “chemical weapon” had been used against the people who burnt to death. This thesis was proven by the claim that “the clothes of the prisoners remained intact while their skin had peeled off from burning.”
The Prime Minister at the time, Bülent Ecevit, declared after the operation, “These terrorists have to finally understand that they cannot keep up with the government.”
Sabsýz’s statement was forwarded to the Bakýrköy (Istanbul) 13th Heavy Criminal Court which handles the corresponding trial against 39 private soldiers.
