The Maras massacre took place in 1978, when Islamic fundamentalists and fascist Turks began their week-long killing spree, leaving more than 100 Alevis dead and many more injured. Forty years ago, the world witnessed one of the most brutal and bloody stains on Turkey’s history. The atrocities that took place have left deep scars in the Kurdish Alevi community, and nobody has been held accountable, the quest for justice continues today. When analyzing the footage and interviews of the survivors, the message is clear, they were killed, driven out of their homes and replaced by Islamist fundamentalist. Not just because they were Alevi, but especially because they were Kurdish. Hence why there is such an emphasis on the obvious correlation between the rise of Kurdish revolutionary movements and the state-planned massacre in Maras.
Before the massacre 80 percent of Maras’ population were Kurdish Alevi’s, now that number is nowhere near that figure. The Kurdish population was drawn out of Maras and replaced with Islamist fundamentalists, reflecting what the Turkish state did in Efrîn and are planning to accomplish in Rojava as a whole. Many witnesses and survivors of the Maras massacre say that it was planned and then covered up by the state. Later, classified documents were uncovered revealing the involvement of the Turkish secret services.
Now, Turkey is not keeping their intentions a secret. Turkey openly expresses their desire to extend their borders into Rojava with like-minded Arabs as neighbors, rather than the Kurds who are the original inhabitants of that land. Erdogan is reshaping the cultural demographics through of the ethnic cleansing of the Kurds.
Thousands of radical Islamists came to Maras shouting “Allahu Akbar.” These people were from the same community, many victims knew their attackers. They grew up hearing that “Alevi’s were sinners and that if you killed one you were guaranteed your place in heaven”.
These phrases made by an Islamist fundamentalist in Maras are identical to the phrases that ISIS and the Free Syrian Army (recycled ISIS, A-Qaida and similar Islamist fundamentalists organizations members coordinated by the fascist state of Turkey) is using when attacking Kurds and Alevi’s in Rojava. This demonstrates how they are following the example of the fundamentalists who committed the atrocities in Turkey who were backed by the Turkish state. Their practices are reused with the same excuses and the same so-called justifications. We know now and see a pattern. The problem has never been the PKK for Turkey or Alevi’s, but rather the Kurds as a whole are seen as the problem. There is an obvious contradiction between their statements and their behavior when it comes to the issue of the Kurds.
The most significant event in 2019 for me has been the invasion of Rojava by Turkey. The brutality they showed in Efrîn by replacing the inhabitants of this peaceful city by reciting the same phrase ‘Allahu Akbar’ that radical Islamist monsters used 40 years ago in Maras. The invasion of Rojava by a NATO member is going to continue having its affect for many years to come and the battle is most certainly not over. Turkeys actions against the Kurds made them look brutal worldwide and have once more shown the harsh circumstances Kurds have to live under as a result of being stateless.
While Erdogan’s regime continues so does its brutal attacks and oppression of the Kurds inside and outside his boarders. Since the foundation of Turkey in 1923 the policy has been exactly the same against the Kurds, that’s why we have founded the government of the United States of Kurdistan and we will keep moving towards the unification and declaration of Kurdistan as one peace. This year will bring change and growth for the Kurdish community who have been suffering for many decades now. We as members of the USK will do our utmost best in serving the Kurdish people and we believe that this game called politics can swiftly change in our favor in 2020.
Kind regards by the member and co-founder of the United States of Kurdistan’s government in exile.
Sersala gelê Kurd ji dil û can pîroz dikim. Hevîdarim ev sal sala serfiraz û azadîya Kurdistanê we bîne ji mere.
