Çelik: The mind that produced September 6-7 lives

HDP MP Tuma Çelik pointed out that the mind that committed the massacre on September 6-7 still lives on and said: “As exiles and forced migration policies continue, the state is still trying to create the monotype human.”

HDP’s Syriac MP Tuma Çelik issued a press statement on the September 6-7 Massacre today.

Çelik pointed out the lack of confrontation despite the 63 years since the massacre and said: “These incidents in Istanbul, its islands and in various other provinces in 1955 also posed a threat to the Christian and Jewish peoples in provinces like Izmir and Ankara, even in Mardin and Urfa. During that time, over 4.000 homes, 5.000 shops and businesses, 73 churches, 26 schools and 1 synagogue was burned down and looted as per official records. Hospital records show 60 women were raped, but we know that the real number is much higher.”

“OTHER NON-MUSLIMS WERE AFFECTED”

“These incidents targeted the Greek people primarily, but they also affected Armenian, Jewish and Syriac peoples,” stressed Çelik and added: “After September 6-7, there was loss of life and property, and the goals of the Wealth Tax were taken further. After these incidents, the Greek people were forced to migrate and this process continued until the 1964 exile.”

“SAME MIND LIVES ON”

Çelik also said:

“This mind lives on still, as exiles and forced migration policies continue, the state is still trying to create the monotype human. This mind has become official state policy and shaped generation after generation through the education system. It continues to reproduce itself. Peoples and our children don’t have to go through such a chain of massacres. We don’t have to live in constant worry in our own country.”

CALL TO “CONFRONT”

Çelik continued:

“The past must be confronted and an apology must be made for September 6-7 to the Anatolian Greek people and all peoples. Impunity must end and perpetrators must be brought to light. A preventative legal basis must be implemented against hate crimes such as this, and sociocultural and structural precautions must be taken against crimes against humanity and hate crimes. It is the duty for a country with rule of law to support remembrance efforts and to implement policies to prevent any repeats. In order to live an equal life in security and peace with our cultures, each one of us has a right to confront the past. I share the pain of the Greek people and everybody who was targeted in the attacks of September 1955.”