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ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) - The Turkish military has
denied any involvement in the deaths of 11 Kurdish
villagers who went missing in 1993, saying claims
their remains were recently found in a mass grave
were orchestrated for money or to win support for
Kurdish rebels, newspapers reported Saturday.
The remarks by Gen. Ilker Basbug, deputy head of the
Turkish military, were published as an official
military response to a query from a legislator about
the grave, the daily Hurriyet and Milliyet
newspapers reported. The grave was discovered in
November by villagers and a human rights group.
Members from Parliament's Human Rights Commission,
which is investigating the disappearance of the 11,
have said the grave appears to contain the remains
of those who went missing after being detained by
soldiers battling autonomy-seeking rebels in
overwhelmingly Kurdish southeastern Turkey.
After the villagers went missing, their families
took the case to the European Court of Human Rights
in Strasbourg, France. The court in 2001 found
Turkey liable for their deaths and fined it the
equivalent of about $675,000 Cdn.
Basbug denied military involvement, though, and said
new claims of a mass grave were aimed at winning
support for the rebels, the newspapers reported..
AP
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