Öznur Değer 

 

ANKARA - Nilgün Karababa, who felt the pain of the Sivas Massacre on the first day and lost her sister Gülsüm Karababa in the massacre, said: ‘’We know the perpetrator, we know the murderers. The state needs to be neutral. We knew who was doing what, but our saying did not mean anything.’’

 

Dozens of people lost their lives as a result of the massacres in Turkey, which has been the scene of many massacres since its establishment, due to its administration policies with a discriminatory and marginalizing language. Looking at the recent history of Turkey, Ankara Train Massacre, Suruç Massacre, Antep Massacre, Diyarbakır Massacre are just a few of the massacres that took place. The people witnessed these massacres throughout history and became the subject of countless pains.

 

July 2, 1993: Sivas Massacre

 

When we go back a little further in history, one of the massacres that took place is the Sivas Massacre. On July 2, 1993, to attend the Pir Sultan Abdal Festival, 33 people, including writers, artists, poets, and journalists, and two hotel employees were burned to death by a group of racists at the Madımak Hotel in Sivas. 51 people survived the massacre, known as Sivas or Madımak, with injuries.

 

Discourses of politicians

 

While many people, especially the opponents, reacted after the massacre, many political figures, especially the Prime Minister of the time Tansu Çiller and President Süleyman Demirel, by uttering words that legitimize the massacre, deepened the social segregation. Tansu Çiller said, ‘’Thank God, our people outside the hotel were not harmed’’, while Süleyman Demirel said, ‘’The incident is a discrete one. There is a severe provocation. As a result of this provocation, the people became angry,” and took an attitude of ignoring the people who were killed with his words. The Minister of Interior of the period, Mehmet Gazioğlu, also targeted Aziz Nesin and said, ‘’The public reacted by getting angry with Aziz Nesin's known provocations against the beliefs of the people.’’

 

‘It is not a massacre, it is a case’

 

Temel Karamollaoğlu, the mayor of Sivas at the time and the Chairperson of the Felicity Party (SP) today, who did not describe what happened as a ‘massacre’, said in a statement years later: ‘’I did not describe it as a massacre. This is a sad case. However, massacre means, 'Someone deliberately wanted to kill these people.’ There was a case. The curtains in the hotel were burned, the cars were burned. The people inside died because they did not open the windows, which I still do not understand.’’

 

Discriminator indictment

 

As part of the investigation launched about the massacre, 35 people were detained. Later, this number increased to 190 and 124 out of 190 people were charged with ‘’attempting to change the secular constitutional order and establish a religious state’’. In the indictment prepared for the massacre, the reason for the incidents was shown as ‘’participators in the festival’’ and the presence of Aziz Nesin was counted among the ‘’preparatory reasons for the action’’. The indictment included the following statements: ‘’Attitudes, behaviors and statements of Aziz Nesin against the religion of Islam, and a moment of silence for terrorist organization militants at a meeting held in a closed hall can be counted among the preparatory reasons for the action.’’

 

85 perpetrators sentenced 37 acquitted

 

The first hearing of the case, known as the Sivas Massacre Case, was held on October 21, 1993, at the Ankara State Security Court (DGM) No. 1. In the trial, which was held on December 26, 1994, 22 perpetrators were sentenced to 15 years in prison, three perpetrators 10 years, 54 perpetrators three years and six perpetrators two years in prison. 37 perpetrators on trial in the case were acquitted.

 

Retrial

 

The lawyers, who stated that the DGM’s decision was ‘sided and unlawful’, filed an appeal. Then, the 9th Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals fundamentally reversed the decision of the DGM, stating that the massacre was "against the republic, secularism and democracy". Thereupon, Ankara State Security Court No. 1 resumed the proceedings.

 

Prison sentences approved, death penalty overturned

 

After the restart of the trial, on November 28, 1997, 33 perpetrators were sentenced to death penalty and 14 perpetrators to prison sentences ranging up to 15 years. The 9th Penal Chamber of the Supreme Court of Appeals approved the prison sentences given on December 24, 1998 and overturned 33 death penalty sentences due to procedural deficiencies. As a result of eliminating procedural deficiencies, 33 perpetrators were sentenced to death penalty again on June 16, 2000. With the abolition of the death penalty in 2002, the sentences of death penalty convicts were turned to aggravated life imprisonment.

 

Cultural Center instead of Museum of Shame

 

While the discussions about the deficiencies experienced during the court process, the reversal of the sentences and retrials continued, the demand for Madımak Hotel to be a "Museum of Shame" was constantly being expressed by the families. While the demands of the families were again ignored, the hotel started to serve again in 2011 as a Science and Culture Center.

 

Constitutional Court postponed the meeting

 

The file, which was taken to the Constitutional Court about the fugitive suspects after long discussions, timed out on March 13, 2012. Families who lost their relatives in the massacre applied to the Constitutional Court in 2014, stating that the trial process was not carried out effectively and the provisions on fair trial were violated, that the massacre should be considered as a "crime against humanity" and therefore should not be timed out. While the Constitutional Court was expected to discuss this issue on June 29, seven years later, it was stated that the discussion of the issue was postponed and will be discussed later.

 

‘The pain never goes away’

 

Nilgün Karababa, sister of Gülsüm Karababa, who lost her life in the massacre, spoke to our agency about the 28th anniversary of the massacre.

Nilgün, who started her speech by stating that she lost not only her sister but also many contacts, stated that 28 years have not been easy. Expressing that they lost their father right after Gülsüm, Nilgün pointed out that they had very bad times. Nilgün said: ‘’That pain sits inside your heart and that pain never goes away. You are trying to carry out the struggle part as well as the emotion part. There is a legal part, there are still ongoing courts. The big case, on the other hand, is timed out.’’

 

‘The government has not made a statement’

 

Nilgün said: ‘’Our memories are getting rusty a little bit, we are getting away from the purpose of life during the day’’ and she still remembers everything in detail. Underlining that they were subjected to many massacres in the country after Madımak, Nilgün said: ‘’We have experienced many deaths. We are in a country where we do not know what to face when we wake up in the morning. Think eight hours. It is done with an organization and people are burned for eight hours under the supervision of the state. Against this, we did not see any explanation from the state, a sign of regret, or a step to prevent it. 28 years passed with an incredible struggle. Nothing can withstand it, not the heart. For 28 years, we could not even spare time for anything other than fighting on the streets. It was a massacre that horrify us deeply and it is a massacre that should not be forgotten. We gave our children the names of those we lost. Life goes on somehow, but our life always goes on with interruption.’’

 

‘They are awarded’

 

Pointing out that many of the lawyers of the defendants in the Sivas massacre were promoted, Nilgün added that some of them were in the Constitutional Court and some of them were ministers. Nilgün, who stated that the lawyers were awarded, ended her sentences as follows: ‘’This is means that ‘You do it, we are behind you. Do not be afraid, we will even take you to the necessary positions.’ They gave such a message to the society. We know who did it, we know the murderers. The state must be neutral. We knew who was doing what, but our saying did not mean anything. The massacre that took place in the HDP İzmir Provincial Building just yesterday is something organized like Sivas. Tents are opened and people are watched for days. The murderer enters with a gun waving his hand. He stays there for hours. And there is the police. One side ignores it. We know the state's point of view on this. As long as their reign continues. In their view, ‘Let's make a chaos. The day is coming, let's kill the Alevis, let's attack the Kurds when they finish off the Alevis.’ This cycle goes on and on.’’