Turkey, already reeling from a connected massacre two days earlier, heard the bad news about a small town in eastern Turkey 29 years ago. The PKK terrorist group had shot 33 villagers dead, the majority of them execution-style.
On July 5, 1993, terrorists took all the women of Başbağlar to a nearby stream and after stealing their valuables, set every house on fire. Five people who challenged the attackers were pushed into burning houses and lost their lives. The terrorists then gathered 28 men who had left the mosque after offering prayers into the center of the village and shot them dead. Hundreds of bullet casings were found at the scene.
Ali Akpınar, the town head who survived the deadly incident, said dozens of terrorists sprayed villagers with bullets while chanting slogans. "Many of our citizens, neighbors and relatives were slaughtered," he said, adding the terrorists also killed livestock and attempted to destroy their school and mosque.
According to Akpınar, the attack was not a random act of terrorism as it was thoroughly planned. He also said the terrorists' attempt to plant seeds of hatred within the Turkish community was rejected by conscientious citizens.
Mr. Ali, first of all, can you tell us what happened in Başbağlar village 29 years ago?
This is the hardest question in the world for us. Başbağlar village is a mountain village farthest from the center of Erzincan. On the day the PKK attacked our village, we were living on our own, and since it was summer, the population was higher than normal with the families who came to our village. We had no problems with anyone, everyone was in their own business. In the evening of that day, when the adhan was called, we went to the mosque as the men of the village and prayed. When we left the mosque, we saw PKK terrorists surround the door. They told us that they would hold a meeting first and read the papers. Then they took us to an empty area on the top of the village where we gathered the animals and sat us down. Then they made propaganda for the PKK to us for half an hour.
Well, how many PKK terrorists were there that day in Başbağlar, and what kind of propaganda did they make for you?
There was a group of about 100 people around us, mostly young people aged 15, 16 and 17. All of them had weapons in their hands. Of course, we are in shock. We were all looking at each other trying to figure out what was going on. They started to tell us something. ‘This land is Kurdistan, if you want to live here, the murderer T.C. They started to say things like, 'You will be subject to us, not the state. Apart from these, another group entered the village and gathered the women and children of our village by the stream. Of course we don't know about it. Anyway, while they were continuing to make propaganda for us, arson, looting and plunder started in our village. After a while we started to see the smoke and explosions started coming from the village one after the other. All the tubes and electronic equipment started to explode as the village turned into a fireball. Then the terrorists who were making propaganda for us started to open fire on us. There were about 40 of us there, and we couldn't escape when shots were fired at us.
How did that day end? Can you tell us about the aftermath of that attack, in which you were also injured?
I was seriously injured by three bullets that hit my body. They thought me and 2 other people were dead and left me. Then, in the morning, they came from the surrounding villages and took us out of the village with blankets. I was treated at Erzurum Training and Research Hospital for 2 months. I was hit in the chest with one bullet and in the leg with 2 bullets and I still carry a bullet in my leg from that day. I came to my village, but Başbağlar was still a fireball, the fire was still going on. The ruins were leveled with ladles. Since I was the headman of Başbağlar at that time, I said that there were losses. However, we have 5 martyrs that we do not know what happened. In other words, we could not reach the bodies of 5 of the 33 people, they burned to death in their homes. After that attack, more than 30 women were widowed in our village. More than 100 children were orphaned. Later, great help came from Istanbul for the reconstruction of the village and the help of the orphan and the widow.
“WE WANT JUSTICE AS BAŞBAĞLAR VILLAGERS”
What do Başbağlar villagers think and want after 29 years? What does he want and what does he want?
We have suffered very hard. We were all relatives, friends and family. We, the villagers of Başbağlar, demand justice. We don't have any other problems. After the incident, hearings started in DGM courts, but we were not even put in the place of witnesses. On top of that, we came to the point of the accused, and our experiences remained unsolved. The 2 terrorists who were found to be involved in this incident are currently inside, but they also benefited from the effective repentance law. One of those terrorists confessed to using a gun at the age of 16 in the attack in Başbağlar village. However, he was not punished by taking advantage of the effective repentance law. Because, according to the effective repentance law, he is not convicted of terrorist activities that he first committed. As a result, we do not hold grudges against anyone. After the PKK burned this village, they left 2 leaflets here and they clearly stated that the villagers paid the price and that the real enemy was the Republic of Turkey. The state had to do its thing here, but the process we have come to is clear. As Başbağlar, we only want justice.