How Do The Turkish State's Terrorists Get Promoted?

A 14 year old Kurdish girl Ceylan Onkol was tending her sheep in a Kurdish village on the outskirts of Amed (Diyarbakir). She was hit by a missile or shell fired from a Turkish Military (TSK) garrison. She was hit in the groin area and blown into pieces. The public prosecutor didn't go to the area, neither did a doctor. It was a complete cover up of terrorism against children in Kurdistan, terrorism by the TSK.

Whenever the fascist state tries to protect its terrorists it uses the excuse of "the investigations are underway". How do you conduct investigations without following proper procedures beats me but that's another story. We want to high light something else. We want to know how many of the Turkish state terrorists have ended up behind bars because they torture and kill even children. Do you know what happened to the police officers who broke Cuneyt Ertus' arm? What happened to those who were captured in Şirnex (Şirnak) while planting bombs to kill civilians? What happened to TSK terrorist Col. Cemal Temizöz? Col. Temizöz is on trial for hundreds of extra judicial killings and torturing civilians. The prosecutor is asking for multiple times of life time sentences for him but guess what? He is still on duty.

We remember the Uğur Kaymaz incident. On Sunday 21 November 2004 a 12 year old Kurdish boy was killed by police officers. He was shot multiple times at point blank range from his back. On 18 June 2009, the High Tribunal Court ruled that the police who shot Ugur from his back have acted in self defence. The police chief Kemal Dönmez who was involved in murdering of Uğur Kaymaz was promoted. Kemal Dönmez was promoted despite his known ties to the Ergenekon terror organization of the terrorist state.

So, really, what happens after these investigations? These terrorists continue their jobs and receive promotions.

Before you try to talk about legitimacy of a terrorist state and blame the existence of Kurdish freedom fighters to justify the terrorist actions of the Turkish state, I recommend you read about the Dersim genocide and the Zilan massacre. Both of these happened way before the Kurdish freedom fighters were around.

Put yourself into the shoes of the family members or friends of those children and then answer this. Do you understand why Kurdish defence forces exist?

Kurdish Cities Sustain the Highest Loss

Turkish Ministry of Defence has published the statistics of dead security forces. Oral Çalışlar recently wrote an article about it. Of course, the data wasn't published widely in Turkish media. The data presents which cities the dead security forces are from. It turns out that in terms of highest losses, six of the top ten cities are Kurdish. The security forces from Kurdish cities (Kurds) are sent to the front lines to fight the PKK. The fascist regime's policy of pitting Kurds against Kurds continues regardless. A Kurd is worthless to the state even if he sides with the state. Here is the data for top ten cities:

City	Number of Dead Security Forces from the City	City Population (2007 census)
1. Şırnak (Şirnex)	302	416,001
2. İstanbul	284	12,573,836
3. Hakkâri (Colemerg)	264	246,469
4. Ankara	260	4,466,756
5. Diyarbakır (Amed)	233	1,460,714
6. Konya	203	1,959,082
7. Mardin (Mêrdîn)	199	745,778
8. Sivas (Sêwas)	198	638,464
9. Adana	186	2,006,650
10. Van (Wan)	177	979,671
Total	2,306	25,493,421
Total Number of Killed Security Forces from the Kurdish Cities in top 10 and sum of their populations:	1,373	4,487,097
Total Number of Killed Security Forces from Non-Kurdish Cities in top 10 and sum of their populations:	933	21,006,324
Percentage of Losses from Kurdish Cities (in top 10)	59.54

For the top-10 cities which gave the highest loss of security forces, Kurds make up 60% of losses. I actually wouldn't be surprised if it was higher because we know there are millions of Kurds living in cities like Istanbul and Adana. Unfortunately the identity of security forces originating from those cities are not available to the man on the street but I am sure TSK takes their identities into considerations before deciding where to send those people. After all pitting Kurds against Kurds is one skill the fascist regime has mastered.

The data reveals more. We don't see the most racist and ultra right wing cities (where the thugs attack Kurdish civilians at any chance they get) in the top 10 above. What's going on here, really? Can it be that the fascist regime is actually trying everything to protect those worthless thugs by pushing Kurds to the front lines?

Children Tried Under Charges of Terrorism

Although the state for whatever reason cannot kill Kurdish children as easy as it used to, now it is imprisoning children as terrorists. If you are a 12 year old who is in the vicinity of the events where other 12 year old kids throw stones at the armored vehicles who crushed their parents, well guess what? You or any other children, "guilty" of throwing a stone or not can be in prison for decades. That is, if they don't put you among ultra-right-wing prisoners who are in prison because of robbery, rape, extortion, etc. and have you killed by them. This is what happened to Yasin Akyüz, who was strangled to death and he was just 15 years old. Did the officials even find out who did it? I am sure they looked into the mirror.

Bianet has a recent piece on trying children as terrorists:

[...]

The Anti-Terrorism Law was effected in 1991 and renewed in 2006. It states that children aged between 12 and 18 years accused for terror should be detained, interrogated and tried under the same conditions as adults. Tilbe Saran and Murat Garipoğlu from the organization Civil Platform object to the law, warning that with every day that passes by another victim of the law is being added.

So the Kurdish children can be killed at their homes, have their villages razed, beaten, forced to migrate, and when they actually show some character, the state wants to destroy them in prisons. Here is the most "interesting part" of the article:

According to the group's information 127 children are currently detained. 3000 children are on trial but the Ministry of Justice does not confirm a precise figure.

[...]

The ministry of justice of a nation state does not confirm a precise figure on its OWN citizens who are on trial or in prison? Seriously, what kind of a state, mind you an "advanced democracy" are we talking about here?! Ministry of just-ice seems to be a better term considering the cold blooded murders it has been carrying against Kurdish people.

Sun will shine and ice will melt. Only then things will be just.

The Zilan River Massacre: Part 2

This is Part 2 of the article on Zilan River Massacre that appeared in Gündem. You can read Part 1 on this blog as well.

Zilan River was filled with Corpses

Right after this massacre, the semi official newspaper of the state, Cumhuriyet daily, in its 16 July 1930 issue reported the massacre of Zîlan as below:

‘The villages of Agri that joined the bandits have been burned down and their residents were sent to Erciş. The number of bandits destroyed during the Zilan operation is over 15 thousand. The number of those who fell before a battalion and died is guessed to be over one thousand. Five brigands who made it to Zilan River surrendered. The war in this place has been very fierce. The Zilan river has filled up with corpses.’

Faik Bulut’s book titled ‘Kurdish Uprisings in Turkey’ which included some documents from the Archive of War History has also included the [Turkish] General Staff’s order dated 01 July 1930. The General Staff orders ‘All of the villages in the region of uprising that have participated in the uprising shall be completely burned down.’

Also, the General Staff’s order on 03 July 1930 says this: ‘… To show the people who rise up will be punished, the villages that participated in the Oramar events and the clans in the meadow must be identified and bombed with the air force.’

These documents [included in Faik Bulut’s book] further state that ‘On 02 July 1930 the following activities occured: Kaymaz, Haçan, Kölesor, Çilli ve Osmanlı villages were bombed by airplanes; the villages in the Patnos region that joined the uprising were subjected to machine gun fire and bombings.

According to the government of the time ‘The actions [by state officials and forces] in the uprising cannot be considered as criminal’. The region was a 'fire at will’ zone. The law number 1850 on 20 July 1931 approved this:

Item 1: During the uprising in Erciş, Zilan, Ağrı mountain regions and following that due to the tracking and punishment operations in the jurisdiction of First Public Controller and in Erzincan’s Pülümür town, from 20 June 1930 to 1 December 1930, any individual or group actions of the military forces, government employees, and anyone who acts with or for them, including watchmen, paramilitary [korucular], and regular citizens, related to getting rid of the uprising and events associated with it are not criminal.

Item 2: This law is in effect on the day of its publishing.

Item 3: The representatives of judiciary and internal matters are charged with the implementation of this law.

After the massacre, the Zilan River was declared a military zone closed to the public. After a while, a Government Farm was started there. Later, immigrants from Afghanistan, Turkmen, were brought and settled in the region. There are still villages in the region whose inhabitants are completely Turkmen.

The Zilan River is one of the most painful episodes of the painful struggle of Kurds. Thousands of people, from swaddled babies to old people were killed.

We believe that those who think they can finish Kurds by killing them have been wrong. Those who committed massacres after Zilan River, in Halepçe [Halabja], Qamişlo, Dersim, Lice, and other places and times, could not finish the Kurds’ struggle for freedom. Kurds, because of their struggle for freedom, have faced these massacres and paid heavy prices. Without a doubt, the sacrifices made by the Kurdish people will not be in vain and this people, in the end, will gain their freedom.


Sources:

İdris ERTAŞ - Tarihe Kazınmış Belgeler; Soykırımlar-III /
Ahmet Kahraman - Kürt İsyanları -
Tedip Ve Tenkil-
M. Remzi Bucak - Bir Kürt Aydınından İsmet İnönü'ye Mektup
Sıddık Güler - Dicle Haber Ajansı
Mehmet Ali Aslan - Kürt Trajedisi

There other eye witnesses who survived the massacre. Here is what another one says:

I think İsmet İnönü gave the order

Kakil Erdem, who is currently 94 and lives in Kündük village, was 17 years old at the time of the massacre. He is one of the few witnesses who survived. He goes on:

“The soldiers were stabbing pregnant women and cutting their babies out. I watched them behead people. They skinned heads of three of my relatives before my eyes. I saw them beating two brothers to death with wood.”

Erdem says when the massacre started, he ran towards the mountains and watched the events from where he hid. “Thousands of soldiers from the 7th Army Corps came to the villages. They surrounded the 72 villages in Zilan. They killed everyone in these villages; men, women, old, young, children, babies, everyone was killed. İbrahim Bey and Derviş Bey were commanding the unit. As they were killing people, we had to run and hide. Some people hid in the wheat fields and beneath their things. Then we all escaped to the mountains. We stayed hungry for days. We went back to the village after the soldiers left. They had killed 35 relatives of mine. I watched them beheading many people. My oldest brother is alive, he saw these too.”

Erdem responds to some allegations which say that the government of the time did not know about the events: “I think İsmet İnönü gave the order. Derviş Bey is father of Alparslan Türkeş. As I think of them, I get chills. I never forgot that massacre. They killed those they captured. Most of the people who died in this massacre were those who fought [side by side with Turks] in the war of independence. They had fought for this country. I did my military service in Sarıkamış. The people we fought together against the enemy later came and killed us.”

What kind of brotherhood is this?

The Zilan River Massacre: Part 1

Below is Part 1 of the translation of the article appeared in Gündem. Many thanks to a Zarokek Roj (child of sun) who helped with the translation.

The Zilan River Turned Red

The Kurds, during the First World War at the beginning of 20th century, sent hundreds of thousands of Kurdish soldiers to fight side by side with Turks at every front Turks were fighting. Kurds did that to protect Islamic values, their freedom, and because they considered Turks brothers.

After the war was over, the response the Kurds have received were promises that were not kept [by the Turks], the splitting of their homeland into five pieces, the denial of their identity, and bans. In response to this injustice, uprisings break out at every corner of Kurdistan.

One of these uprisings is the one at Agri [Agirî]. After the Turkish state suppressed the Agri uprising, it started an all out annihilation campaign against Kurds at the Zilan River, in the Town of Erciş [Erdîş], Van [Wan] on 13 July 1930.

After the Agri uprising was over, the Kurds took refuge in the Zilan valley. The commander of the Army Corps, Salih Pasha, with the military operation, conducted a massacre against the Kurds taking refuge in the Zilan valley. The Zilan region was bombed with airplanes. The passages to the region get sealed off and tens of thousands of soldiers surrounded the region; the massacre began. From a new born baby to 90 year old elderly, people of all ages, male and female, were raked by machine guns and stabbed with bayonets.


The Bodies Rot

A total of 44 villages were set on fire and around 15 thousand people were tied to one another [and] massacred in the valley. A soldier who was part of the massacre tells the story:

“They made women, children, babies, everyone living in the region, thousands of people to get into the Zilan river. Then these people were surrounded by machine guns. They [the commanders] put us, the privates, on the machine guns. Behind us, there were corporals and sergeants who had their rifles aimed at us. Behind the corporals and sergeants, in the third row, there were commissioned officers waiting with their loaded pistols, ready to fire. If we didn’t fire, the noncommissioned officers were going to shoot us. If the noncommissioned officers didn’t shoot us, the commissioned officers were to shoot them and us. We pulled the triggers. Thousands of bullets spit fire on the people in the river. The horrible cries of women, children, old and young men echoed in the river. After a while the cries turned into moans. Then the moans ended too. Along with old and young men’s bodies, corpses of thousands of women, children, babies in swaddling clothes were left in the pool of blood. The corpses began to rot after a while.”


I was Under the Corpses

A few of the injured, fainted [and] remained under corpses. They survived. For years, they have been telling of this tragic story. Tayfun Susak, -he is known as Tayfunê Zîlan in Bulanik- tells the story:

“Soldiers under the command of Captain Derviş Bey [Captain Derviş Bey is father of Alpaslan Türkeş] attacked the seven villages on the Zilan River with the excuse that we were going to start an uprising. They started killing everyone. In a short time, bodies were all over the place. I fell when I was running. In a short while, I was under corpses. They thought I was dead. They piled corpses. I was under corpses. After the soldiers left, I came out. I was the only survivor in my family. My father, mother, and all my relatives were killed. Very few people survived. And those who survived, like me, they lost their sanity.”

Susak says he was arrested by the soldiers after the events. He continues: “Sometime later, the soldiers came back to the region and took the survivors to Muş, Agri, and Dogubeyazit. I was among them. We suffered hunger and torture in these places. Then I was made to care for soldiers’ livestock for a few years. After this, they took me to Elazig Mental Hospital. I stayed there for a long time. They were treating us like animals there. I suffered a lot in that hospital. After things got better in this area, they set us free. I wanted to go back to my village. When I went there, there was nothing left. Houses were destroyed too. So I came to Muş and settled in the town of Bulanik. Since I came here, I have been living on handouts.”

We shall not forget.

Read on to Part 2.

Newspaper Confiscated for Reporting Allegations of Police Rape

Court ordered confiscation of Azadîya Welat newspaper because it reported 10 claims of women being raped by the police in Amed since the arrival of new police chief to the city. The full story is here.

Kurds not only are not allowed to defend themselves they also cannot talk about the crimes committed against them by the fascist state's security forces. I am curious as to what happened to the animal who smashed a zarokê roj's head with the butt of his weapon or the thug who broke Cuneyt Ertus' arm. Perhaps it's time Kurds should assume the state's role in delivering justice since state doesn't seem to be capable of it.

High Tribunal Court Approves of Killing Kurdish Children

On Sunday 21 November 2004 Ugur Kaymaz, a 12 years old child, was helping his father loading his lorry when the police shot both of them dead. His father was gunned down with 8 bullets. Ugur had 13 bullets in his body. The child was repeatedly shot from his back at very close range. Nine bullets entered his little body through his back. The fact that Ugur was shot from very close range was documented by forensics doctors of the Judiciary.

On 18 June 2009, the High Trubinal Court ruled that the police who shot Ugur from his back together with his father have acted in self defense. How is it acting in self defense, let alone being justifiable by any means, to shoot a child from behind at close range with 13 bullets? What kind of "law" would allow and tolerate such abomination?

Think again... Is PKK really a terrorist organization? Don't you think the real terrorist is the Turkish state that shoots Kurdish children from behind, breaks their arms, smashes their skulls with butt of a weapon, tries and imprisons them as adults, AND sees such abomination justifiable?

The Turkish state is determined that it will either assimilate Kurdish children or annihilate them.

I have a question for those people who insist the PKK should lay down arms unconditionally. Are they willing to protect these children if the Kurdish defence forces lay down their arms? I didn't think so.