Soldiers demolish the graves of two HPG guerrillas in Dersim

Soldiers have demolished the graves of two HPG guerrillas in the cemetery of Sörek village in Dersim's Mazgirt district.

Turkish soldiers entered the Karabulut (Sörek) village in Mazgirt district of Dersim with armored vehicles Friday afternoon. Villagers tried to stop the soldiers as it came out that they had come to demolish the graves of PKK members on an instruction from the governor of Tunceli (Dersim). Families stood before the armored vehicles and hindered the soldiers for a while.

Soldiers responded to the families saying the followings in an announcement from inside their armored vehicles; “We came here on Tunceli Governorate's instruction. You can submit your objection to the governorate. Your acts are being recorded. Move away if you don't want to face with any legal action.”

Despite all the efforts and resistance of the villagers, soldiers entered the cemetery and tore down the grave stones of HPG guerrillas Sancar Bulut (Seyid Rıza) and Baran Çetinkaya (Brusk Dersim).

Condemning the attack on the graves, HPG guerrilla Çetinkaya's mother Fadime Çetinkaya said the followings: “The Turkish state has demolished our graves here today, saying that it was the instruction of the governor. We asked them to show us an official document of the instruction, but they did not. Let the governor himself come here now that he has given the order. They broke all the stone of my son's grave. He is the honour of Dersim. We will not let them get away with this. We told soldiers to either crush us or to stop the demolition. They said they knew me. Of course, they know me. I am the mother of Brusk Dersim and Seyid Rıza. They will not win anything with this disgrace and contemptibility. Their attack on the graves is just an indication of them exerting every effort against us. We stand by our martyrs to the last drop of blood.”

HPG guerrilla Sancar Bulut (Seyid Rıza) fell a martyr in Kastamonu province in 2011.

Baran Çetinkaya (Brusk Dersim) was one of the two guerrillas who carried out an action on Naif Karabulut police station in Dersim city center on September 4, 2015. The other guerrilla, Rıdvan İpek (Rezan Erzurum) lost his life at the scene as clashes erupted upon the response of the special operations police. Brusk Dersim got heavily wounded during the action and he lost his life after two days in intensive care.