DAD commemorates victims of the Çorum Massacre

As in every Alevi massacre, the community was victim of religious, physical, cultural, and economic genocide processes and violently pushed into an assimilation process, said DAD.

The Democratic Alevi Associations (DAD) Ankara Branch commemorated those who lost their lives in the 40th year of the Çorum Massacre.

The Çorum massacre was carried out between May and July 1980. Extremist Sunni Muslims, part of a "nationalist youth" campaign, targeted the Alevi community and murdered 57 left activists. Some 300 were injured. Many victims were young people and women.

The statement said: "What happened in Çorum in 1980 was an outright massacre under the supervision of the state. It is a massacre that started in May 1980 and continued until July and targeting the Alevi people."

The statement added: "As in every Alevi massacre, the community was victim of religious, physical, cultural, and economic genocide processes and violently pushed into an assimilation process. After each massacre, Alevis were faced with losing their lives, their property and their beliefs. The state played with the demographic structure implementing its Sunnization project within the framework of Turkish-Islamic synthesis. In Çorum, they tried to get rid of the Alevis as they had done in Ortaca, Maraş, Sivas and Malatya."