Başbağlar massacre

The Başbağlar massacre (Turkish: Başbağlar Katliamı) is the name given to the 5 July 1993 masacre of 33 civilians in the village of Başbağlar (which was then burnt down), in Erzincan Province during the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. While the attack was originally attributed to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), former Turkish special forces soldier Ayhan Çarkin claimed that the deep state was behind the massacre.[1]

Background

The small village of Başbağlar is located 220 kilometers from the city of Erzincan in the eastern Anatolian province of Erzincan's Kemaliye district.

Incident

Turkish authorities claimed that approximately 100 heavily armed militants rampaged through the village, dragged all the civilians to the village square and burned their homes and property. After an hour of propaganda session dozens of men from the village were killed in front of their families. The militants then moved on to setting the whole village on fire. 214 homes, the school, the mosque and the community center were burnt down.[2][3]

The Başbağlar massacre is considered one of the bloodiest mass killings in the history of the PKK.[4]

Investigation

Nearly twenty people were allegedly arrested as part of the investigation, in which two people were jailed and sentenced to life imprisonment for being members of the PKK. Turkish authorities claimed that although the PKK apparently claimed responsibility for the attack, during interrogations, jailed PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan said that he had been unaware of the incident. In 1998 the case was closed.[5][6]

Reactions

On 5 July 2010, the Turkish minister Faruk Çelik visited Başbağlar to commemorate the day, he said: "No matter how many years pass after this incident, we will never forget this sorrow and those who caused it.”[7]

References
  1. Basbaglar katliami, Bilan kazasi olayi, Jave köyleri...Ayni ekip yapti bunlari. Basbaglar katliami kesinlikle Ergenekon zihniyeti ürünüdür,
  2. "Başbağlar da 15 yıldır adalet bekliyor" Archived 2011-10-02 at the Wayback Machine, Haber10, July 6, 2008. URL access date: July 7, 2008.
  3. "Başbağlar, one of PKK's bloodiest massacres, remembered". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  4. "Turkish minister remembers victims of Başbağlar massacre". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  5. "Başbağlar'da geç gelen adalet" (Late justice at Başbağlar), Radikal, October 24, 1998. URL access date: July 7, 2008.
  6. "Başbağlar, one of PKK's bloodiest massacres, remembered". Daily Sabah. Retrieved 2016-09-28.
  7. "Turkish minister remembers victims of Başbağlar massacre". Hürriyet Daily News. Retrieved 2016-09-28.

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