Bahçelievler massacre
The Bahçelievler incident (also known as the Bahçelievler Massacre) is the name given to the events of October 9, 1978 in Bahçelievler, Ankara, Turkey, when seven university students, members of the Turkish Workers' Party, were assassinated by ultra-nationalists including Grey Wolves' leader Abdullah Çatlı, and Haluk Kırcı. The assailants, who were armed with a number of weapons, were reportedly surprised to find the "revolutionary" students unarmed in their apartment. Two of the students were taken away by car and executed nearby, and five executed in the apartment.[1]
Background
Other massacres during the wave of political violence include the March 16, 1978 Massacre, when at the exit of a school, the police and fascists bombed and shot the leftist students in Beyazıt Square, killing seven; the December 23–24, 1978 Kahramanmaraş Massacre, when 111 Alevi people were killed according to the official figures (the actual number has been estimated to be much higher) and many more. According to Kendal Nezan of the Kurdish Institute of Paris:
"[Abdullah Çatlı] is reckoned to have been one of the main perpetrators of underground operations carried out by the Turkish branch of the Gladio organisation and had played a key role in the bloody events of the period 1976-1980 which paved the way for the military coup d’état of September 1980. As the young head of the far-right Grey Wolves militia, he had been accused, among other things, of the murder of seven left-wing students."
He was seen in the company of Avanguardia Nazionale founder Stefano Delle Chiaie, while touring Latin America and on a visit to Miami in September 1982.[2]
Responsibility
- Haluk Kırcı and Mahmut Korkmaz accepted responsibility for the massacre under the Repentance Law[1]
- Bünyamin Adanalı and Ünal Osmanağaoğlu were also convicted[3]
- According to Soner Yalçın and Doğan Yurdakul's 1997 book, Ercüment Gedikli and Kürşat Poyraz took active roles, while Ömer Özcan and Duran Demirkıran were lookouts.[1]
See also
- List of massacres in Turkey
- Right-wing and left-wing armed conflicts (Republic of Turkey)
- History of the Republic of Turkey
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yalçın, Soner; Yurdakul, Doğan (1997). "The Bahcelievler Massacre". Reis: Gladio’nun Türk Tetikçisi (in Turkish; extract translated into English). Su Yayinlari.
- ↑ Nezan, Kendal (1998-07-05). "Turkey's pivotal role in the international drug trade". Le Monde Diplomatique.
- ↑ Hurriyet Daily News, 11 July 2012, ‘Bahçelievler Massacre’ convicts may be released