The Madimak hotel is to be bought by government
The Madimak hotel is to be bought by government
According to Turkish daily Hurriyet, the Madimak hotel in the Central Anatolian province of Sivas that was the site of a 1993 massacre is in the process of being bought by the government amid debates about the most suitable future use for the building.
According to the paper the money necessary to buy the hotel has been sent to the authorized provincial administration in Sivas, State Minister Faruk Çelik announced Thursday, speaking at a meeting in Ankara on the legal status of Alevi houses of worship, or “cemevi.”
“The project will cost 4.5 million Turkish Liras. The ministry will provide additional resources for the restoration work,” the minister said.
In February, Çelik had said it was not important whether the Madýmak Hotel became a museum or something else as long as local residents were the ones to decide the building’s fate. The Cem Foundation, a prominent Alevi organization, says the hotel should be demolished and a park and monument built in its place.
It was July 2, 1993, when an angry mob consisting of radical Islamists attacked the hotel, where many Alevis and intellectuals were staying. They had come to Sivas for a festival commemorating an important Alevi figure, Pir Sultan Abdal. The crowd set the building on fire, killing 37, including hotel workers. Among the intellectuals and artists killed were singer Hasret Gültekin, Muhlis Akarsu, philosopher Asým Bezirci, folk singer Nesimi Çimen and poet Metin Altýok.
Hurriyet reports that an advertisement on the hotel’s website offering the building for sale – reportedly at an initial price of 8 million liras – was removed after Çelik made his announcement.
In recent months, the government had met with Alevi organizations under its democratic initiative and heard the groups’ demands about the future of the Madýmak Hotel.
Four main ideas have been proposed for the building, private news channel NTV reported Thursday. Some Alevi groups have demanded the hotel become a museum to commemorate the massacre, while others such as the Cem Foundation say the building can be put to another use as long as there is a plaque at the door honoring the victims. Some local nongovernmental organizations in Sivas would like to see the building demolished and a library built on the site. Arif Sað, an Alevi and prominent folk musician, has meanwhile proposed that the building be torn down and the area used for a flower garden.
Ali Balkýz, the head of the Alevi Bektaþi Federation, said he believes the hotel should be turned into a museum in order to teach lessons from history. “For it to be a garden or library means not addressing the real issue,” he said.
As every 2 of July this year also hundreds of people will be gathering in Sivas on July 2 to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the massacre.
Last December the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Cafer Erçakmak 16 years after the Sivas Massacre. In the course of the massacre, Erkçakmak tried to push Welfare Party Sivas Municipality MP Aziz Nesin off a fire engine while rescuing the victims from the burning hotel.
Upon information of the Turkish Statistic Institute (TÜIK) about Erçakmak's whereabouts in France, the joint attorneys applied to the court to initiate the process of the defendant's extradition to Turkey in the hearing on 1 September. On its own motion, the court decided to issue an arrest warrant without waiting for the coming hearing on 24 December.
According to the paper the money necessary to buy the hotel has been sent to the authorized provincial administration in Sivas, State Minister Faruk Çelik announced Thursday, speaking at a meeting in Ankara on the legal status of Alevi houses of worship, or “cemevi.”
“The project will cost 4.5 million Turkish Liras. The ministry will provide additional resources for the restoration work,” the minister said.
In February, Çelik had said it was not important whether the Madýmak Hotel became a museum or something else as long as local residents were the ones to decide the building’s fate. The Cem Foundation, a prominent Alevi organization, says the hotel should be demolished and a park and monument built in its place.
It was July 2, 1993, when an angry mob consisting of radical Islamists attacked the hotel, where many Alevis and intellectuals were staying. They had come to Sivas for a festival commemorating an important Alevi figure, Pir Sultan Abdal. The crowd set the building on fire, killing 37, including hotel workers. Among the intellectuals and artists killed were singer Hasret Gültekin, Muhlis Akarsu, philosopher Asým Bezirci, folk singer Nesimi Çimen and poet Metin Altýok.
Hurriyet reports that an advertisement on the hotel’s website offering the building for sale – reportedly at an initial price of 8 million liras – was removed after Çelik made his announcement.
In recent months, the government had met with Alevi organizations under its democratic initiative and heard the groups’ demands about the future of the Madýmak Hotel.
Four main ideas have been proposed for the building, private news channel NTV reported Thursday. Some Alevi groups have demanded the hotel become a museum to commemorate the massacre, while others such as the Cem Foundation say the building can be put to another use as long as there is a plaque at the door honoring the victims. Some local nongovernmental organizations in Sivas would like to see the building demolished and a library built on the site. Arif Sað, an Alevi and prominent folk musician, has meanwhile proposed that the building be torn down and the area used for a flower garden.
Ali Balkýz, the head of the Alevi Bektaþi Federation, said he believes the hotel should be turned into a museum in order to teach lessons from history. “For it to be a garden or library means not addressing the real issue,” he said.
As every 2 of July this year also hundreds of people will be gathering in Sivas on July 2 to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the massacre.
Last December the Ankara 11th High Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Cafer Erçakmak 16 years after the Sivas Massacre. In the course of the massacre, Erkçakmak tried to push Welfare Party Sivas Municipality MP Aziz Nesin off a fire engine while rescuing the victims from the burning hotel.
Upon information of the Turkish Statistic Institute (TÜIK) about Erçakmak's whereabouts in France, the joint attorneys applied to the court to initiate the process of the defendant's extradition to Turkey in the hearing on 1 September. On its own motion, the court decided to issue an arrest warrant without waiting for the coming hearing on 24 December.
