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Turkey: Post-Roboski bombing, the dead are buried, but families
still wait for justice |
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Turkey: Post-Roboski bombing, the dead are
buried, but families still wait for justice
28.7.2012
By Emiko Jozuka in Roboski
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Ekurd.net |
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Felek Encu (far left) and another mother hold up
photographs of the dead.
Photo credit: Emiko Jozuka •
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Brothers of the victims stand over their graves (far
right, Ferhat Encu)
Photo credit: Emiko Jozuka
July 28, 2012
ROBOSKI, The Kurdish
region of Turkey, — More than half a year after the
death of 34
people in a botched airstrike, families of the
victims are still searching for answers and justice.
In a remote mountain village close to the Iraqi
border, the pain of losing 34 youths in a Turkish
military airstrike last December remains
unforgotten.
Inside a mud-brick house in Roboski village, Felek
Encu sits dressed in black. In her hands is a
photograph of her 13-year-old son, who was killed in
the bombing as he trekked through snowy mountain
passes with a mule laden with food and fuel. His
trip could have brought 50 TL (22 euros) to help
support the family.
"We didn't have any cars, and it took us two hours
to reach the site of the bombings through the snow
and the mud. When we arrived, the air was thick with
fire, smoke and a poisonous smell. The severed human
and animal parts were mingled together, and it was
difficult to tell them apart," said Encu.
"Some people were pulled out alive and I kept asking
if that was my son. But they told me later that my
son had been trapped under a fallen rock, and died."
Of the 38 youths who set out to collect food and
fuel from a village across the border in Iraq, only
four lived to see the next day. As they passed into
a flat highland plain, roughly 2km from their
village, two bombs dropped by the Turkish Air Force
hit the convoy.
It was a case of mistaken identity. Two days later
the government announced the airstrikes had been
intended to strike PKK militants believed to have
been infiltrating from Iraq.
In a region with few job opportunities, border
smuggling is a main source of income for many. The
attack was on well-known smuggling routes -- routes
that the local military knows about and opts to look
the other way -- and it sparked fury, grief and
shock in the families of the victims and in Kurdish
communities across the country.
An inefficient emergency response and two-day wait
for a government announcement fuelled further
resentment, as families of the victims and locals
were left to collect bodies onto mules and tractors.
Many victims froze to death, while others died
en-route to hospital.
Rumours the bombings had been deliberate spread
quickly as the PKK turned the incident into a
propaganda tool.
After a flurry of official visits to Roboski
village, including Prime Minister Erdogan's wife
Emine, what happened seemed to be brushed aside
until a report published by the Wall Street Journal
on May 16th claimed that the airstrikes followed
intelligence provided by US drones.
The new controversy propelled the case back into the
spotlight. Erdogan responded with furor, as he
dismissed the WSJ's report and claimed that Turkish
drones had acted independently.
To date, little light has been shed on the deaths as
a confidential investigation by the government
continues and legal action against those responsible
hasn't been taken.
For the victims' families, distrust and hatred
towards the government simmers amid suspicions the
lack of answers is partly due to their Kurdish
origin.
BDP Uludere mayor Fahme Yaman said the late public
announcements by the government may indicate their
desire to cover up the event.
While the bombings have exacerbated mistrust towards
the government in Kurdish communities, local AKP
officials say the case will be resolved. They dispel
suggestions of ethnic discrimination.
"We're all saddened by this incident … We accept
that there was a mistake, but with Allah's
permission, these mistakes will be clarified. At the
moment, people are full of questions as no one knows
how this happened. It's not a simple matter,"
explained Sirnak AKP woman's branch head, Hatice
Atan.
"I'm also Kurdish and our PM definitely doesn't
discriminate [between Turks and Kurds]. He says
we're all siblings. If the PM didn't care, he
wouldn't have sent his wife and daughter, or his
deputy prime minister, or [Minister of Family and
Social Affairs] Fatma Sahin and parliamentarians,"
she continued
However, public announcements by Interior Minister
Idris Naim Sahin added to the anger and distrust. He
said he wouldn't apologise, but also dismissed those
killed as smugglers engaging in illegal activities
and being "the PKK terror organisation's extras
[actors in a play]."
Since the bombing, family representatives have
appeared on numerous television shows and given
press interviews to pressure the government to
provide answers and issue an official apology. But
the pursuit of justice has not been easy.
"Some soldiers threatened families [of the victims]
and told them to drop the case. I was taken into
custody three times while trying to take this case
to international and domestic audiences," said
Ferhat Encu, a brother of a victim.
An offer of monetary compensation soon after the
bombings also angered the families, who say that
their only wish is for the perpetrators to be
punished and for a peaceful resolution of the
Kurdish issue.
"We were really saddened when a week after [the
bombings] an offer of compensation was made while we
were still waiting for the perpetrators to be
found," said Ferhat Encu. "The district and
prefectural governor encouraged us to accept the
offer by saying it was our right and by asking what
more the government could do for us. But we just
want the perpetrators to be found. We will not
accept money. It's not our custom to do so."
As the search for answers continues, locals in
Sirnak remain divided over who is responsible. While
some accused Erdogan and the military, others point
to the possible involvement of the deep-state – an
influential, anti-democratic group that has
infiltrated the Turkish political system.
"In Turkey, power struggles may sometimes arise
between certain groups: for example between the
government and the military. These people [34
civilians] may have been pawns in this internal
struggle,www.ekurd.net
where one person wanted to destroy another's
influence, and gain power for themselves," explained
Ali Bayram, vice-president of the Sirnak Bar
Association.
Back in Roboski, whether an intelligence blunder, or
conspiracy, the need for justice and truth
continues.
"Do you think Emine Erdogan understands what it
feels like to lose a child? If Erdogan can act like
the big brother of the Syrian people, why can't he
do so in his own country? Is this to be our fate as
Kurds? We want peace, enough is enough," Felek Encu
said.
"Every day, I look out of the window when the
children return from school, but my son doesn't come
anymore," she whispered. "I'll look for his rights
everywhere, even if they want to kill me. As a
mother, I'll never let this drop."
Emiko Jozuka a Japanese freelance journalist
based in Van
Copyright
© 2012 Ekurd.net. All rights reserved
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