The Başbağlar massacre () is the name given to the 5 July 1993 massacre of 33 civilians in the village of Başbağlar (which was then burnt down), in

Erzincan Province Erzincan Province (; ; ) is a Provinces of Turkey, province in the Eastern Anatolia Region of Turkey. In Turkey, its capital is also called Erzincan. Its area is 11,815 km2, and its population is 239,223 (2022). Geography Erzincan is trav ...

during the Kurdish-Turkish conflict. While the attack was originally attributed to the

Kurdistan Workers' Party The Kurdistan Workers' Party, or the PKK, isDespite the PKK's 12th Congress announcing plans for total organisational dissolution, the PKK has not yet been dissolved de facto or de jure. a Kurds, Kurdish militant political organization and armed ...

(PKK), the former Turkish special forces soldier Ayhan Çarkın claimed that the

deep state Deep state is a term used for (real or imagined) potential, unauthorized and often secret networks of power operating independently of a State (polity), state's political leadership in pursuit of their own agendas and goals. Although the term ori ...

was behind the massacre. But later he then said that all of his claims were "just predictions". The leader of the PKK,

Abdullah Öcalan Abdullah Öcalan ( ; ; born 4 April 1948 or 1949), also known as Apo (short for Abdullah in Turkish; Kurdish for "uncle"), is a founding member of the militant Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Öcalan was based in Syria from 1979 to 1998. He ...

while in prison stated that massacre was committed by a PKK member codenamed "Dr. Baran".

Background

The small village of Başbağlar is located 220 kilometers from the city of

Erzincan Erzincan (; ), historically Yerznka (), is the capital of Erzincan Province in eastern Turkey. Nearby cities include Erzurum, Sivas, Tunceli, Bingöl, Elazığ, Malatya, Gümüşhane, Bayburt, and Giresun. The city is majority Turkish Sunni w ...

in the eastern

Anatolia Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

n province of Erzincan's Kemaliye district.

Incident

Turkish authorities claimed that approximately 100 heavily armed militants rampaged through the village, dragged all the civilians to the village square and burned their homes and property. After an hour of propaganda session dozens of men from the village were killed in front of their families. The militants then moved on to setting the whole village on fire. 214 homes, a school, a mosque, a clinic and a community center were burnt down. The Başbağlar massacre is considered one of the bloodiest mass killings in the history of the PKK.

Investigation

Nearly twenty people were allegedly arrested as part of the investigation, in which two people were jailed and sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

for being members of the PKK. Turkish authorities claimed that although the PKK apparently claimed responsibility for the attack, during interrogations, jailed PKK leader

said that he had been unaware of the incident and stated that a PKK member codenamed Dr. Baran was responsible for the incident. In 1998 the case was closed.

Reactions

On 5 July 2010, the Turkish minister Faruk Çelik visited Başbağlar to commemorate the day, he said: "No matter how many years pass after this incident, we will never forget this sorrow and those who caused it.”

References

{{Kurdish–Turkish conflict Massacres in 1993 History of Erzincan Province Kurdistan Workers' Party attacks 20th-century mass murder in Turkey July 1993 in Turkey July 1993 crimes Terrorist incidents in Turkey in 1993 1993 murders in Turkey Violence against men in Asia Massacres in Turkey Mass shootings in Turkey School arson fires in Asia 1990s fires in Asia Arson in 1993 Residential building arson attacks in Turkey Mosque arson in Asia Attacks on buildings and structures in 1993 20th-century attacks on mosques Attacks on religious buildings and structures in Turkey Kemaliye District Persecution of Turkish people