The Bahçelievler massacre refers to the events of October 9, 1978 in

Bahçelievler, Ankara Bahçelievler is a neighbourhood in the municipality and district of Çankaya, Ankara Province, Turkey. Its population is 10,638 (2022). The name means 'houses with gardens' in Turkish. The neighborhood was known in the 1970s as a battleground ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, when seven university students, members of the Workers' Party of Turkey, were assassinated by

ultra-nationalists Ultranationalism, or extreme nationalism, is an extremist form of nationalism in which a country asserts or maintains hegemony, supremacy, or other forms of control over other nations (usually through violent coercion) to pursue its specific i ...

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. Five of the students were killed in the apartment, and two were taken away by car and killed nearby.

Background

Other

massacre A massacre is an event of killing people who are not engaged in hostilities or are defenseless. It is generally used to describe a targeted killing of civilians Glossary of French words and expressions in English#En masse, en masse by an armed ...

s during the wave of political violence in the 1970s include the March 16, 1978 Massacre when, at the exit of a school, police and civilian far-right militants bombed and shot leftist students in Beyazıt Square, killing seven; the December 23–24, 1978 Kahramanmaraş Massacre, when 111

Alevi Alevism (; ; ) is a syncretic heterodox Islamic tradition, whose adherents follow the mystical Islamic teachings of Haji Bektash Veli, who taught the teachings of the Twelve Imams, whilst incorporating some traditions from shamanism. Differing ...

people were killed, according to the official figures (the actual number has been estimated to be much higher). According to Kendal Nezan:

" bdullah Çatlıis 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 Stefano Delle Chiaie (13 September 1936 – 10 September 2019) was an Italian neo-fascist terrorist. He was the founder of ''Avanguardia Nazionale'', a member of ''Ordine Nuovo'', and founder of Lega nazionalpopolare. He went on to become a wan ...

while touring Latin America and on a visit to Miami in September 1982.

Responsibility

* Haluk Kırcı and Mahmut Korkmaz accepted responsibility for the massacre under the Repentance Law * Bünyamin Adanalı and Ünal Osmanağaoğlu were also convicted Hurriyet Daily News, 11 July 2012
‘Bahçelievler Massacre’ convicts may be released
/ref> * 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. * İbrahim Çiftçi: A bomb in a cafe in Alsancak suffered was killed in the assassination.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bahcelievler massacre Political violence in Turkey (1976–1980) Massacres in Turkey Terrorist incidents in Turkey in 1978 Military history of Ankara Grey Wolves (organization) attacks Massacres in 1978 1978 murders in Turkey 1970s in Ankara Student massacres October 1978 in Turkey 20th-century mass murder in Turkey Mass murder in Ankara Çankaya District

Background

Responsibility

See also

References