On the occasion of a cultural festival in memory of the Alevi scholar and poet Pir Sultan Abdal, who was executed in the Ottoman Empire at the end of the 16th century, numerous intellectuals, poets, musicians, writers, and artists, mainly of Alevi faith, came together in the city of Sivas – the birthplace of Pir Sultan Abdal – on 2 July 1993.
The hotel where the festival participants were staying was called Madımak. On 2 July, an Islamist mob of around 20,000 people gathered outside the hotel after Friday prayers and chanted hateful messages, calling for the people in the hotel to be burnt to death. Shortly afterwards, the hotel was set on fire to the chants of the jubilant attackers. The fire spread in a matter of seconds. Footage of the massacre was broadcast for hours on live television, while the people trapped in the hotel waited desperately to be rescued. Neither the police, the military, nor the government in Ankara intervened. Witness statements and video footage show how police officers helped the crowd, while an approaching military unit withdrew. For this reason, we can/must also make clear that this was a state sanctioned massacre.
The massacre claimed 33 lives. The youngest victim, Koray Kaya, was only 12 years old when he and his sister Menekşe (15) were murdered. The Alevi identity had once again become a target of violence and hatred.
After 19 years of criminal proceedings, the case against the masterminds and perpetrators of the massacre was dropped on 13 March 2012. Many of the lawyers who defended the perpetrators are still functionaries within the ruling AKP.
Most of the perpetrators were acquitted or were able to flee abroad before being tried. 24 perpetrators fled to Germany. More than eight of them are known to still be living in Germany. One perpetrator was granted German citizenship, all others were granted residence permits and asylum. None of the perpetrators have been brought to justice. German authorities have not taken any legal action, although a crime against humanity has been committed.
A political and societal reappraisal of the massacre and compensation for the victims and their families has still not taken place. The relatives’ demand that the Madımak Hotel be turned into a museum and memorial has gone unfulfilled. Instead, this place where 33 people were murdered was home to a restaurant for many years.
The persecution and discrimination of Alevis has been systematic since the founding of the Republic of Turkey. Even during the Ottoman Empire, Alevis were subjected to repression and persecution. Hundreds of people were murdered in numerous massacres against the Alevi population in Kahramanmaraş (1978), Malatya (1978), and Çorum (1980). Before that, the Turkish government’s 1938genocide of the Alevi population of Dersim claimed thousands of lives. All of these massacres intensified the migration of Alevi people to European countries, as they hoped for a safer life there. The diaspora was an important site of organisation for Alevis. They founded numerous cultural centres and political associations across Europe, particularly in Germany, in order to organise themselves and jointly counter the racism that had persisted for decades and culminated in numerous massacres.
For the first time in the history of Alevi organisations, cultural centres bearing the word ‘alevi’ (Alevi) could be founded. This is still forbidden in Turkey. The founding of the umbrella organisation (Alevi Community Germany – AABF) is a direct reaction to the massacre in Sivas in 1993, which remains a trauma for the Alevi population. It is thanks to the many years of intensive work by Alevi associations and activists that the suffering is not forgotten and that awareness of the importance of remembrance work continues to increase. This knowledge is also being passed on to the younger generations through the youth organisation. the Federation of Alevi Youth in Germany (BDAJ).
May the names of the victims of Sivas not be forgotten:
Hasret Gültekin, Muhibe Akarsu, Muhlis Akarsu, Metin Altıok, Nesimi Çimen, Edibe Sulari, Behçet Aysan, Gülender Akça, Mehmet Atay, Sehergül Ateş, Erdal Ayrancı, Asım Bezirci, Belkıs Çakır, Serpil Canik, Muammer Çiçek, Carina Cuanna, Serkan Doğan, Murat Gündüz, Gülsüm Karababa, Uğur Kaynar, Koray Kaya, Menekşe Kaya, Handan Metin, Sait Metin, Huriye Özkan, Yeşim Özkan, Ahmet Özyurt, Nurcan Şahin, Özlem Şahin, Asuman Sivri, Yasemin Sivri, Inci Türk.
