Sivas arson attack

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The Madımak building today

The arson attack in Sivas describes the pogrom-like attack by a religiously motivated and whipped crowd on participants of an Alevi festival and the subsequent fire of the Madımak hotel on July 2, 1993 in the central Anatolian city of Sivas . 37 people, mostly of the Alevi faith, were killed. In official Turkish usage it is called the Sivas event . Alevis speak of the Sivas massacre .

Arson attack on the Madımak Hotel

At an Alevi cultural festival in honor of the poet Pir Sultan Abdal in Sivas in the summer of 1993, the Turkish writer Aziz Nesin declared publicly that he considered part of the Turkish population to be “cowardly and stupid” because they did not have the courage to stand up for democracy. His translation and partial publication of the novel The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie , heretical for some Muslims, led to the fact that especially conservative Sunni circles felt provoked. On July 2nd, an angry crowd (the number of people is estimated at 20,000) gathered in front of the Madımak Hotel after Friday prayers, where Aziz Nesin, but also Alevi musicians, writers, poets and publishers stayed.

In the midst of the angry protesting crowd, incendiary devices were finally thrown at the hotel. Since the hotel was made of wood, the fire spread quickly. 35 people burned to death; however, the author Aziz Nesin, who, according to some sources, had primarily targeted the attack, survived with minor injuries. Because of the angry crowd outside the hotel, the residents of the hotel could not go outside until they were finally trapped in the fire.

The State Security Court in Ankara came to the conclusion that the crowd was obstructing the rescue work by the fire brigade. In addition, witness statements and video recordings show how isolated police officers helped the crowd and how an advancing military unit withdrew.

The Alevis call this attack the "Sivas massacre", although from their point of view the arson attack was aimed at them, and have since felt abandoned by the state. The event played an important role in raising awareness.

The Sunnis, on the other hand, deny any allegation of being responsible for the arson attack and demand that the real perpetrators be found. They advocate a revision of the investigation into the attack, claiming that saboteurs mingled with the crowd and threw the incendiary devices against the hotel. The whole arson attack was broadcast live on TV.

Until the end of 2010, Sunnis ran a meat restaurant in the building of the former Madımak Hotel. This led to outrage and opposition among the Alevis, as they want to see a peace museum there. In early 2011, the Madımak Hotel was bought and vacated by the Turkish state. After that, construction work began on a cultural center. There is a memorial for the victims of the attack, and there is also a library in the new Madımak. Alevi associations insist that the cultural center be renamed "Peace Museum".

On November 11, 2007, the graves of the Sivas victims in Ankara, Karsiyaka were damaged. The memorial wall was completely destroyed. A short time later, the Sivas memorial was again damaged by unknown perpetrators.

Aftermath of events

Despite the irritated climate between Sunnis and Alevis in Turkey due to the arson attack in Sivas, the events also led to a rapprochement between both groups and to mutual solidarity to avert such tragic events in the future. Every year on July 2, there is a memorial service for the 35 victims of the Sivas arson attack, attended by representatives of both groups. However, the Turkish government never uses the term "massacre", but rather "sad incident". Among other things, some critics claim that the annual commemoration is more likely to refresh the Alevis' feelings of hatred than to reduce them. This is underpinned by the claim that the attack was polemicized by those affected .

Numerous convicts are still on the run, many of them staying in Germany. An international arrest warrant does not appear to have been forwarded to the embassies for all of them. The Turkish state, however, rejects these allegations.

Prominent victims

Portraits of the 33 killed artists

Processing in art

A number of songs dealt with the Sivas arson attack. The singers - almost all of them Alevis themselves - used it to express their feelings.

Fazıl Say composed the Requiem for Metin Altıok (2003) in honor of one of the victims . The premiere was censored by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism on the instructions of Prime Minister Erdoğan (quote: “We don't want to be reminded”). A performance at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2008, which was prevented by the personal intervention of the Turkish Prime Minister and his Minister of Culture , again drew international attention to the arson attack and how the Turkish government dealt with it.

Books on the Sivas arson attack

The attack became the subject of several books in which the authors describe the events on that day, for example:

In German-language literature
  • Ten years ago: Islamist pogrom in Sivas kills 37 . In: analyze + kritik No. 474 from June 20, 2003.

See also

Web links

Commons : Sivas massacre  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Antje Harders: Will I still be able to play Beethoven? , Der Spiegel , September 30, 2008
  2. ↑ Helmut Peters: Turkish Ambassador of Classical Music , Die Welt , February 15, 2009