A group of people from the Halkevleri Association lie in a row wearing shrouds in front of the Parliament building in Ankara to protest the Uludere tragedy. (Photo: Cihan, Ebubekir Atmaca)
28 December 2012 / TODAYSZAMAN.COM İSTANBUL,
Turkish jets. Commemorative events were held near the site of the tragedy at a time when no significant result has been reached in the investigation into who ordered the strike.Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) Co-chairs Selahattin Demirtaş and Gültan Kışanak, Mardin independent Ahmet Türk, Diyabakır Mayor Osman Baydemir, various BDP deputies, representatives of civil society organizations as well as public figures and artists gathered in Gülyazı, an Uludere village where most of those killed in the airstrike were from, in the early morning hours. Speeches and mournful eulogies in Kurdish were recited at the event, which went on under tight security, as security forces let visiting groups gradually into the village.
Families of the victims greeted the visitors in the morning. Black flags were put up on some walls in the village. Slogans praising the terrorist Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) were heard during the event, which started with a visit to the graves of those who died in the airstrike. A prayer ceremony was held for the victims following the Friday prayer.
In a speech made during the commemoration, BDP Co-chair Demirtaş said those responsible for the airstrike still had not been identified. Demirtaş said everything that needs to be said on the incident has been said and written, and claimed that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had given the order for the airstrike. “The only thing that remains to be done is for Erdoğan to apologize and accept his responsibility for the massacre. What remains missing now is the confession from Erdoğan that says, ‘I was the one who ordered the airstrike over the phone. I apologize for this and I accept responsibility’.”
Demirtaş spoke outside a tent set up in Uludere, a town named Roboski in Kurdish, to welcome visitors. He recounted the words of Uludere’s district governor, Naif Yavuz, who “knew everything” about the Roboski strike: “The first day we talked to the Uludere district governor, a Kurd from Muş, he told us, ‘We have all the evidence, it will not be covered up. We are waiting for the inspectors to arrive. Everything is clear as day.’”
Demirtaş continued: “Since that day, the Uludere district governor hasn’t talked. Where is this evidence? Who is it entrusted with?” He also said the Şırnak Police Department had given similar assurances, saying all evidence concerning the airstrike had been secured. Demirtaş said that intelligence led the Air Force Commander, Chief of General Staff and Prime Minister to order the airstrike based on the belief that there was a senior PKK member among the smugglers.
“For them, the civilians involved were not of any concern. They ordered the airstrike so they would be able to kill a single PKK member. The prime minister has personally done this. The information that civilians were among them was given. And it emerged after the massacre came to light that there was not a single PKK militant among them. Those who died are the children, the youth of Roboski. What do you think they have been discussing for a year? They are trying to hide the facts,” the BDP co-chair exclaimed.
Mardin independent deputy Türk called on both Turks and Kurds to stand united in the fight against racism. “Let’s leave behind the pains of the past and not create new ones,” he