Kahramanmaras pogrom

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The Maraş pogrom , also known as the Kahramanmaraş massacre , took place from December 19 to 26, 1978. Along with the arson attack on Sivas, the massacre is one of the pogroms in Turkey against the Alevi religious community . More than 100 people were killed in the massacre.

Course of the pogrom

The Kahramanmaraş pogrom happened two years before the 1980 military coup . At that time there were daily conflicts, fights and deaths between right and left groups in Turkey. Since the funeral of the Alevi Dedes Sabri Özkan, who had been murdered by right-wing extremists, on April 3, 1978, tension in the city has increased.

The events began on the night of December 19, 1978, when a shock grenade exploded in a cinema in Maraş . During this time the cinema was showing a film with nationalist ideas called Güneş Ne Zaman Doğacak ('When is sunrise'). No one was seriously injured in this attack due to the low explosive power of the firecracker. Many nationalists, the gray wolves and politicians of the MHP party saw the perpetrators of the attack in the communists and Alevis. On December 20, a bomb attack was carried out in an Alevi café. After several violent clashes and unrest, two teachers who described themselves as Left Democrats were shot dead on December 21, 1978 . During the funeral the next day there were clashes in which two people died again. The fighting was fueled by the fact that the right spread rumors that the left would storm the mosque.

The unrest peaked on the night of December 22nd, 1978. Initially, in several neighborhoods, including the Yörükselim Mahallesi, where many Alevis live, their houses were marked with a red spray on the front door. Shots were fired and imams made speeches against the Alevis in some mosques . Despite the riots and warnings, the mayor took no security measures.

The pogrom began on December 23, 1978. Other residential areas were attacked by nationalists and members of the MHP, buildings and workplaces were destroyed. Because of the marking, most of the Alevis were dragged from their homes and taken to the streets, tortured and killed in large numbers. Women were raped. Only after three days did the government under Bülent Ecevit send an army unit to the province of Kahramanmaraş , which, however, could not prevent further attacks. In the end, according to official information, 111 people were dead, 552 houses and 289 workplaces looted.

The events resulted in the government imposing a state of emergency in the 13 provinces in southeastern Turkey , including Sivas and Malatya . The government cited a conflict between left and right as the reason for the attacks.

See also

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Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Erik Jan Zürcher: Turkey: a modern history, London 2004, p. 263
  2. ↑ It should be noted that the Gray Wolves were nationalistic and religious and described the other side (communists and Alevis) as godless.
  3. ↑ Those houses with Alevi families had previously been recorded under the cover of a census.
  4. ^ The difficult fate of the apostates in FAZ from February 25, 2013, page 3