Thousand of people remembered the Sivas massacre
Thousand of people remembered the Sivas massacre
Thousand of people who came to Sivas for the 17th memorial day of Sivas Massacre staged a demonstration in honour of those murdered. Among their demands are that Madimak Hotel be converted into a museum and all of the perpetrators finally be brought to justice.
On the other hand, Human Rights Association in Turkey (IHD) has also proposed that Hotel Madimak where 37 people were set fire on and killed 17 years ago should be converted into a ‘Museum of Disgrace’. IHD discussed that ‘Madimak Museum’ will help Alevites to recover from the trauma caused by this massacre.
IHD also stated that the real responsible behind the Madimak massacre have not been found yet and it is the duty of the government to find and bring them before justice.
What happened in Sivas 17 years ago?
On 2 July 1993, a group of radical Islamists calling for sharia and death to infidels gathered around the Madimak Hotel where the Pir Sultan Abdal Alevite Festival attendants were accommodated.
The demonstration which started under cover of protesting novelist, Aziz Nesin, who translated and published Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and criticized Islam, turned into a violent attack and eventually the crown set fire on the Madimak Hotel.
Nesin was saved by security forces, but 37 other intellectuals and festival participants who stuck in the hotel, were killed. Security forces were criticized for not stopping the crowd.
Although a couple of perpetrators were arrested and after a 13-year trial were convicted they were soon released under an amnesty law known as the “rehabilitation project”
The Sivas massacre targeted not only Aziz Nesin and The Satanic Verses but also Turkey's Alevi minority who are the second largest religious community in Turkey, although no official statistics are available.
Alevites, unlike Sunnis, represent a more liberal wing of Islam.
On the other hand, Human Rights Association in Turkey (IHD) has also proposed that Hotel Madimak where 37 people were set fire on and killed 17 years ago should be converted into a ‘Museum of Disgrace’. IHD discussed that ‘Madimak Museum’ will help Alevites to recover from the trauma caused by this massacre.
IHD also stated that the real responsible behind the Madimak massacre have not been found yet and it is the duty of the government to find and bring them before justice.
What happened in Sivas 17 years ago?
On 2 July 1993, a group of radical Islamists calling for sharia and death to infidels gathered around the Madimak Hotel where the Pir Sultan Abdal Alevite Festival attendants were accommodated.
The demonstration which started under cover of protesting novelist, Aziz Nesin, who translated and published Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses and criticized Islam, turned into a violent attack and eventually the crown set fire on the Madimak Hotel.
Nesin was saved by security forces, but 37 other intellectuals and festival participants who stuck in the hotel, were killed. Security forces were criticized for not stopping the crowd.
Although a couple of perpetrators were arrested and after a 13-year trial were convicted they were soon released under an amnesty law known as the “rehabilitation project”
The Sivas massacre targeted not only Aziz Nesin and The Satanic Verses but also Turkey's Alevi minority who are the second largest religious community in Turkey, although no official statistics are available.
Alevites, unlike Sunnis, represent a more liberal wing of Islam.
