The 24 May 1993 PKK attack, sometimes referred to as the Bingöl massacre was a
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 Kurdish militant political organization and armed gu ...
(PKK) attack on unarmed
Turkish military
The Turkish Armed Forces (TAF; , TSK) are the military forces of the Republic of Turkey. The TAF consist of the Land Forces, the Naval Forces and the Air Forces. The Chief of the General Staff is the Commander of the Armed Forces. In wartime, ...
soldiers on the
Elazığ
Elazığ () is a city in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, and the administrative centre of Elazığ Province and Elazığ District. Founded in and around the former city of Harput, it is located in the uppermost Euphrates valley. The plai ...
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Bingöl
Bingöl (; ; ), known as Çapakçur before 1944, is a city in Turkey. It is the seat of Bingöl Province and Bingöl District,). This occurred following the breaking of the first ever PKK-Turkish ceasefire when Turkish forces attacked the PKK in Kulp.
Background
In late 1991, Turkish president
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...
attempted to establish dialogue with the PKK. He had said the idea of a federation could be discussed and a
Kurdish language
Kurdish (, , ) is a Northwestern Iranian languages, Northwestern Iranian language or dialect continuum, group of languages spoken by Kurds in the region of Kurdistan, namely in southeast Turkish Kurdistan, Turkey, northern Iraqi Kurdistan, Ira ...
TV channel could be opened. He also passed a bill, partially unbanning the use of the Kurdish language. In response the PKK declared a cease-fire on 20 March 1993. On 17 April 1993
Turgut Özal
Halil Turgut Özal (13 October 192717 April 1993) was a Turkish politician, bureaucrat, engineer and statesman who served as the eighth president of Turkey from 1989 to 1993. He previously served as the 26th prime minister of Turkey from 1983 ...
died under suspicious circumstances. The Turkish military began to increase their attacks on the PKK, in particular on 19 May, in Kulp killing around a dozen rebels. Under the control of the provincial commander of the area at the time,
Şemdin Sakık
Şemdin Sakık (born 1959), also known by his ''nom de guerre'' Şemo or ''Parmaksız Zeki'' (), is a Kurdish militant commander, former senior Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) member. Michael M. Gunter (2010), ''Historical Dictionary of the Kurds ...
reported to
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 ...
that the soldiers were losing respect. Öcalan responded by stating you may retaliate if attacked to defend yourself, unaware of what would be planned.Page 214
The attack
Sasik decided on a show of strength, ordering units to block all main roads to the Diyarbakir which was a favored operation by the rebels as it asserted authority. Due to the remoteness of some of these stretches of highway, the Turkish military were not eager to confront the PKK so sometimes sent off-duty soldiers via unmarked buses to avoid being targeted or identified at any roadblock.
One of these roads was the Elazığ-Bingöl highway which was allegedly manned by over 150 PKK militants, who had come down from the mountains to the southeast. The PKK stopped several buses transferring unarmed Turkish soldiers in civilian clothes, and then dragged 33 soldiers and five civilians (including four teachers) from the vehicles and executed them. Some 22 soldiers were spared by the PKK and taken prisoner, before being released. The military was criticized for the fact that the soldiers were unarmed and there were no units protecting them. Sakık, later captured by the Turkish security forces, testified during the
Ergenekon trials
The Ergenekon trials or the Ergenekon conspiracy, were a series of high-profile trials which took place in 2008–2016 in Turkey in which 275 people, including military officers, journalists and opposition lawmakers, all alleged members of Erge ...
that
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 ...
elements in the Turkish military had sent the soldiers unarmed in the hope they would be killed, as part of the Doğu Çalışma Grubu's coup plans.
Aftermath
On the 8 June 1993, Abdullah Öcalan announced the cease fire it declared in March was over. The Turkish military intensified its anti-insurgency operations against the PKK during the following months. A total of 92 Turkish security forces, 203 Kurdish rebels and 29 civilians were killed during anti-insurgency operations in May and June, an additional 120 Kurds were arrested during these operations.
Turkish claimed that Parmaksız Zeki, the PKK's commander in
MuÅŸ
MuÅŸ (; ; ) is a city in eastern Turkey. It is the seat of MuÅŸ Province and MuÅŸ District.Ä°l Beled ...
at the time, described the attack as a turning point in the conflict, as the state stepped up its operations against the PKK and "the war got much worse".