What happened on July 2, 1993, in Madimak? What do we know about this massacre?

About 15,000 people burned a hotel with mottoes. July 2, 1993, witnessed a bloody massacre in Sivas.

Although there were many cameras and people, 35 people were burned in a hotel. 30 years have passed since this tragic event.

Many questions are without answers despite the past 30 years.

Let’s turn back the date and go to that dark day on the 30th anniversary of the Sivas massacre.

On a hot summer day, there was a festival in Sivas. The festival started on July 1 and lasted for 4 days. The people who participated in the festival were the writers Aziz Nesin, Metin Altıok, Hasret Gultekin, Behçet Aysan, Ugur Kaynar, Nasimi Çimen, and Asım Bezirci.

Asım Bezirci, 66-year-old was the oldest person in the group. The youngest, Koray Kaya, was 12 years old and went to Sivas for the folklore show.

The target of the massacre was Aziz Nesin

A leaflet was handed out in the city two days before the Sivas massacre. Aziz Nesin, who was the editor of Aydınlık (Light) newspaper in those years, was the target of threats.

Another reason why Nesim was targeted is because of Salman Rushdie’s book called Satanic Verses published in the newspaper.

In the same leaflet, it was said about Aziz Nesin that “He makes fun of Muslims and can freely walk around the city.”

“Sivas will be a grave for secularists!”

After the Friday prayer, people who were behind walked towards the center of the city where the festival was held. The number of marchers was increasing and they were shouting “Sivas will be a grave for secularists!”

15 thousand people stopped in front of Madimak hotel

The number of obscurant groups is increasing. 15,000 people were ready for the massacre and stood in front of the Madimak hotel at 18:00. The cars on the road were broken, statues were burned and the windows of the hotel were broken.

The Madimak was burned down

After two hours had passed and the hotel was set on fire by the provocations of the obscurant group.

All those moments were recorded by cameras. The voices in the group were getting louder. The voice was last heard, “Burn, what are you waiting for? Get inside and burn it. It is the fire of hell.”

The state was not there that day

The state was not there that day. Only a group of soldiers was there and they were taken out of the massacre area with the announcement, “Soldiers go back to the headquarter”. As soldiers withrawed, the group set fire to the hotel and the fire grew higher and higher.

35 people, including Asım Bezircî, Nasimi Çimen, Muhlis Akarsu, Metin Altıok, and Hasret Gultekin, and 2 hotel workers, were burned and lost their lives.

What did the politicians say about the massacre?

A few days after the massacre DYP President and Prime Minister Tansu Çiller made a surprising speech and said, “Thank you to God, our people outside the hotel were not harmed.”

President Suleyman Demirel also said, “The incident is one-sided. It was a serious provocation. People are angry at the end of this provocation. Due to the fire in the hotel, some people lost their lives.”

What happened in the Sivas Massacre case?

35 people were arrested for this massacre. In the following days, this number reached 190. A lawsuit was filed against 124 people who were arrested for “attempting to change the secular constitutional system and establish a religious state” and the rest were released.

If the court does not accept this action as a “crime against humanity”, the adjudication of the 3 absconding offender will be closed according to the law. Because today is the 30th anniversary of the incident.

There are 9 people whose sentences have been approved but they are still abroad and the case for them will be the rescission of trial.

This news was translated by Yonca Sarsilmaz

---

#YouAreAllWeHave – Support Kurdish Media!